The celebration at Wabtec’s plant in Marhowra, Bihar marked another milestone in the 2015 US$2.5bn agreement as part of the Government of India’s Public Private Partnership ‘Make in India’ program to develop and supply 1,000 fuel-efficient, emission-compliant diesel-electric Evolution Series locomotives.
“This achievement is a major step in Wabtec’s growth as the leading rail industry supplier in this country and demonstrates the commitment to the ‘Make in India’ initiative,” said Dr Sujatha Narayan, senior vice president and India region leader. “It also is a tribute to the dedication of our team in India, as well as the support from the community, government, suppliers, and other Wabtec sites around the world. Their efforts are positioning the company and our customers for success in the region for years to come.”
The 500th locomotive is a 4500-horsepower, dual-cab locomotive. To date, Wabtec has delivered 438 of those models and 62 of the 6000-horsepower, single-cab locomotives to Indian Railways. These locomotives are digitally enabled and use cutting-edge technology to deliver fuel efficiency and ensure compliance with international emission standard UIC1.
Indian Railways is using the locomotives extensively for heavy-haul and container operations across the country. The fleet is demonstrating high levels of availability and reliability, which is enabling significant growth in freight revenue.
“The successful and timely execution of Marhowra project is a major milestone in the success of the public private partnership,” said Sandeep Selot, managing director of Wabtec Locomotives Private Limited. “This partnership also helped to operationalize modern service sheds in Roza and Gandhidham. It also has been instrumental in creating jobs and establishing a local supplier footprint, as well as establishing a community outreach program.”
The state-of-art manufacturing plant in Marhowra started operations in 2018. It leverages global lean manufacturing processes and has the capacity to deliver 120 locomotives per year. The plant also set a new benchmark in having a diverse and talented workforce from Bihar and Jharkhand.