The Indian Railways has set the ball rolling for FDI, reports Bilal Abdi in New Delhi. The first two ventures by Indian Railways would bring in Rs 42,000 crore of investments to Bihar that is slated for assembly elections this November. The first project would be an electric locomotive production facility, a joint venture, in Madhepura, with an investment outlay of Rs 22,000 crore.
Indian Railways is set to choose its majority partner from three global bidders — Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens — sources said. Financial bids for the Madhepura locomotive factory were opened on Monday.
Indian Railways will open financial bids for the other project, a Rs 20,000-crore diesel locomotive factory at Marhora, on Tuesday. It has shortlisted GE and EMD — one of which would be the private partner for the Marhora unit. In both the projects, IR will have 26% stake, while the selected global bidder will have the remaining 74%.
The Madhepura locomotive plant will manufacture 800 electric locomotives of 12,000 horse power over 11 years.
The project cost includes the cost of the manufacturing plant and electric locomotives. Out of the 800 locomotives, five would be imported and the rest will be manufactured in India, giving a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make In India” campaign. “The final decision on who will be awarded the contract will take around a month,” the ministry sources said.
The Marhora plant is expected to manufacture about 1,000 diesel-electric locomotive in ten years, that is 100 locomotives annually. The cost of the diesel locomotive factory will cost around Rs 20,000 crores inclusive of the price of locomotives and manufacturing plant. The Marhora plant is expected to manufacture 700 diesel locomotives equipped with 4,500 horse power and 300 diesel locomotives with 6000 horse power.
