Suitable economic drivers will ensure complete indigenization of the locomotive manufacturing
Siemens has received a Letter of Award (LoA) for Rs.26,000 crore (about US$3.2 billion) to manufacture 1,200 high horse power (9,000 HP) electric locomotives over a period of 11 years from Indian Railways factory at Dahod.
An agreement with Siemens India will be signed within 30 days of issue of LoA, the Ministry of Railways said on 24 Dec 2022.
The contract includes maintenance of these locomotives for 35 years.
The proto-type locomotives are to be delivered in the coming two years.
The Dahod Unit will be fully constructed for manufacturing these locomotives within a period of two years.
Siemens, selected as technological partner, will manufacture these locomotives at Dahod and maintain these locomotives at four maintenance depots – Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur and Pune for a period of 35 years utilising Railway’s Manpower.
Suitable economic drivers will ensure complete indigenization of the manufacturing which in turn will lead to development of ancillary manufacturing units making it a true ‘Make in India’ initiative.
The project will also lead to development of the Dahod region and generate employment.
These High Horse Power (9000 HP) locomotives will be the future workhorse for freight operation on Indian Railways.
These locomotives are planned for use primarily on Western Dedicated Freight Corridor and on graded sections of Railways for hauling container freight trains in double stack configuration of 4,500 tonnes at 75 kmph at 1 in 200 gradient and improve the average speed of such trains to around 50-60 kmph over the existing 20-25 kmph.
The quantum jump in the operating parameters will lead to increase in the throughput and also enhance line capacity.
These locomotives, equipped with state-of-the-art Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) based propulsion technology, will provide savings in energy consumption due to regenerative braking technology.
There is a provision to manufacture and supply Standard Gauge locomotives for export market.
Indian Railways have selected Siemens India through a fair, transparent and competitive bidding process as the Technology Partner to manufacture and maintain these locomotives utilising Railway staff under the supervision of Technology Partner.
The Technological Partner has been selected through a fair, transparent and competitive bidding process and will provide training to Railway Staff at Dahod for manufacturing the 9000 HP locomotives and at four depots at Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur and Pune for maintenance of the locomotives over the design life of 35 years.
The Technology Partner will also ensure 95% availability and 150,000 km of trouble-free operation of locomotives before any maloperation can take place as the guaranteed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
The entire bid process has been conducted in a fair, transparent and competitive manner and awarded in record time through electronic bidding, said the Ministry.
The Ministry had decided to conduct a single stage two packet bidding process for obtaining technical and financial bids for selection of a suitable Technological Partner.
The Notice inviting Bid for selection of Technological Partner was issued on 20 April 2022. Financial bids were opened on 6 Dec 2022.
After detailed evaluation of the bids, the Ministry has declared Siemens Limited, India as the selected Technological Partner. fiinews.com
