Electric loco unit for JD-U chief's constituency

The new proximity between the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Congress appears to have quickened the clearance of an electric locomotive project at Madhepura in Bihar. In all probability, it will be flagged off in January next, ahead of the 2014 elections.

The Madhepura Lok Sabha constituency is represented by JD-U chief Sharad Yadav and was earlier the stronghold of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo and former railway minister Lalu Prasad.

The bids opened on Monday (September 2) showed that six global infra giants—GE, Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier (India), CSR Corporation and CNR Corporation (China)—are in the race for the Rs 1,293-crore project.

The factory will manufacture around 800 electronic engines over 10 years.

The project was announced in 2006 by then railway minister Lalu Prasad. It was to be a joint venture with 26 per cent equity of railways. However, the project did not take off and several bids were cancelled.

The fate of the project was hanging in balance owing to political reasons. Lalu Prasad won the Madhepura seat in 2004 and later resigned, making way for his candidate Pappu Yadav, who got elected.