Make in India: Railways awards project worth Rs 2,211 crore to Hyderabad firm

Chugging ahead full steam on the government's Atma Nirbhar Bharat and Make in India track, the Indian railways has awarded projects worth Rs 2,211 crore to Hyderabad-based firm Medha Servo Drives Pvt. Ltd. for procurement of equipment for manufacturing additional rakes of Vande Bharat train sets.  

The contract awarded by the Indian Railways to the firm is for design and manufacturing of propulsion, control and other equipment for making 44 rakes, having sixteen cars each, of Vande Bharat train sets, according the railway ministry. Officials said that the project will be completed under 'Make in India' policy entailing indigenous procurement of 90 percent.  

Vande Bharat express, or the train 18 project, of the Indian railways is an indigenous semi high-speed train set manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. The train can run up to a maximum speed of 160 km/hour.  

Currently, two Vande Bharat trains are operational in the country connecting the national capital with Katra and Varanasi. The first Vande Bharat express was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2019.  

The ministry plans to operationalise about 40 Vande Bharat trains by the end of the next year. The trains are likely to be introduced on Bangalore-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Kolkata-Patna among other routes.  

The work of manufacturing of Vande Bharat trains sets will also be taken up by Modern Coach Factory, Rai Bareilly and Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala.

Also Read: Railways seeks Rs 75,000 crore from Centre in Budget 2021