WB's Uttarpara plant to manufacture 80 Vande Bharat trains over 6 years

The consortium formed by Titagarh Wagons Limited (TWL) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has secured a significant contract worth Rs 24,000 crore to manufacture and maintain 80 sleeper-class Vande Bharat trains for the Indian Railways. The majority of the trains will be manufactured at TWL's Uttarpara plant, located about 15km from Kolkata, which will be renamed Titagarh Rail Systems.

The deal, which is reportedly worth nearly Rs 10,000 crore, will see the consortium supply the trains to the Indian Railways over six years, and the contract also includes a 35-year annual maintenance agreement worth Rs 14,000 crore. Each train will cost Rs 120 crore.

The propulsion system and electronics for the trains will be manufactured at BHEL's plant in Bengaluru, while the assembling and maintenance will take place at the Integral Coach Factory facility in Chennai. The consortium will need to deliver the first train within the next 24 months as per the contract conditions.

Umesh Chowdhary, the vice-chairman and MD of TWL, said that the Uttarpara plant had the technological capability to build the 80 Vande Bharat trains. However, given the magnitude of the order, some capacity expansion would be necessary, and Rs 1,000 crore has been earmarked for this, of which Rs 350 crore has already been invested.

This contract comes after the consortium emerged as the second-lowest bidder for the project, with the lowest bidder being a consortium of Railway Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) and Russian company CJSC Transmashholding, which will manufacture 120 Vande Bharat trains over a period of six years.