Ukraine war hits Vande Bharat train production

Indian Railways' plan to launch dozens of new Vande Bharat trains this year has hit a hurdle with the import orders from Ukraine being stuck due to the war.

"Some components of 'Vande Bharat' (train) are made in Ukraine but due to the ongoing conflict, delivery schedule has been impacted. We are looking for options for timely delivery. Railway ministry will give exact details of components' delivery," Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

Railways had placed an order for 36,000 wheels at a cost of $16 million with a Ukraine-based firm. The payment for this was to be made through a Letter of Credit. The wheels were planned to be shipped from the Ukrainian Black Sea Port to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Mumbai. This has not happened until now due to the war, said a railways official.

Ever since the war, Ukraine, one of the world's largest suppliers of such wheels, has stopped production.

So far, they have managed to only transport 128 wheels to neighbouring Romania by road, from where they will be airlifted for the trial of the trains next month. These wheels will be used for trial of two trains, said the official.

To meet the target, India has also now placed orders for wheels with the Czech Republic, Poland and the United States. The country may look at China as well.

In her 2022 Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that 400 Vande Bharat trains will be manufactured in the next three years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year announced plans to roll out 75 new Vande Bharat Express trains by August 15, 2023 and Indian Railways was expected ultra-modern train sets commercially available from June 2022 onward. But due to the current situation, the commercial launch may be delayed further, the official added.

At present, there are two Vande Bharat trains operating between New Delhi-Varanasi and New Delhi and Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Katra.

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