Dubbed as the first major FDI project under Make in India initiative, the Rs 20,000-crore electric locomotive factory at Madhepura in Bihar seems to be on track.
French multinational engineering giant Alstom, which won the contract to work with Indian Railways in a joint venture (JV), has already started fencing and securing the 100 acre land already acquired for the factory.Bharat Salhotra, managing director of AlstomTransport, told ET in an interview that the project was getting full support from the state government.
He admitted there were problems and challenges. "The infrastructure in the region is not developed. Roads are bad, making access to the factory site difficult. We faced similar problems and conditions while working in South Africa," he said. However, he expressed confidence about meeting the February 2018 deadline to supply the first prototype loco that will have to undergo various tests.
The research on the design was already in progress. The first five locos, out of the total 800 that are to be manufactured as part of the contract, will be imported, and the remaining will be made at Madhepura. Giving the schedule of supply, Salhotra said, after the first prototype, the second is to be supplied in 2019.The second one will also be tested. Only when it is approved that they will go for increased production - 35 locos in 2020, 60 in 2021 and then 100 each every year till 2029.
source:The Economic Times
