New Delhi: Simmons has said that the Indian Railways has given him a contract worth three billion euros i.e. about Rs 2,652 crore. This contract is for making 1,200 electric train engines. These engines are to be supplied over the next 11 years.
The railway division of Siemens said on Monday that this contract is the biggest contract in its history. The contract also includes the maintenance and repair of locomotives for 35 years.
The engines supplied by Siemens will be used for freight transportation. These 9,000 horsepower engines will be able to haul 4,500 metric tons of cargo at a speed of about 120 kilometers per hour.
Will be manufactured in India only
According to Simmons, most of the manufacturing work will be done at its factory in India. Most of the assembly will be done at the Gujarat-based plant of Siemens and Indian Railways will also cooperate in this. Apart from this, both sides will also work together in the repair of engines.
Siemens has a factory in Dahod, Gujarat where these engines will be manufactured. The repair work will be done in four depots of Indian Railways which are located in Visakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur, and Pune.
Siemens, one of the world’s largest engineering companies, says that India has one of the largest and fastest-growing rail networks in the world. The company’s CEO Roland Busch said, “The country (India) wants to double its freight capacity. We will help the country with the world’s largest electric rail network achieve its ambitious goal.”
Bush said the locomotives he built would “save 800 million tons of carbon emissions over their lifetime” and thus make India “the world’s largest green rail network.”
‘Significant Achievement’
Sunil Mathur, Managing Director, Siemens India, said, “The 9000 HP electric locomotive is a significant milestone in the electrification of Indian Railways and we are proud to manufacture them in India with the help of Siemens Mobility’s cutting-edge technology.”
Simmons has won contracts worth more than this in the past as well, but they were not just for trains. Recently, it signed an eight billion dollar agreement with Egypt, under which it has to set up a complete network of electric trains in the country and supply various types of engines.
India has one of the largest rail networks in the world. It has more than 22 thousand trains in which 2.4 crore people travel daily. Indian Railways is also the largest freight network which the government wants to increase further. The central government plans to increase the share of railways in freight transportation from the current 27 percent to 40-45 percent.
