Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said a tender was floated to build a wheel plant which would manufacture at least 80,000 wheels every year as the national transporter is planning to become an exporter of wheels.
The company which wins the bid will build the plant in 18 months with the investment of Rs 1,000 crore. The bid will be awarded on the condition that the plant will be exporter of wheels too, and the export market will be Europe, the minister told media.
Indian Railways needs two lakh wheels per year. As per the proposal, Steel Authority of India Limited will provide one lakh wheels, and the rest will be provided by a new ‘Make in India’ plant.
The railways has struggled to import wheels of the Vande Bharat train due to war in Ukraine. Later they had to be airlifted to meet the timelines set for their production.
This is the first time that the railways has floated a tender to invite private players to build a wheel plant and make wheels for high speed trains in India, he said.
The minister also said soon a tender will be floated to manufacture high speed rails.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks