Siemens bags Rs 26,000 crore locomotive project in India

Siemens Limited on Monday has received an order for 1,200 locomotives of 9000 horsepower (HP) from Indian Railways. Its marking the single largest locomotive order in the history of Siemens Mobility and single largest order in the history of Siemens in India.  

Siemens will design, manufacture, commission and test the locomotives. Deliveries are planned over an eleven-year period, and the contract includes 35 years of full service maintenance. The locomotives will be assembled in the Indian Railways factory in Dahod, Gujarat. Maintenance will be performed in four Indian Railways depots located in Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur and Pune. Locomotive assembly and maintenance will be implemented together with the staff of Indian Railways. 

The contract has a total value of ~Rs 26,000 crore excluding taxes and price variation.
"Siemens is supporting the sustainable transformation of India’s transportation sector as the country seeks to almost double freight capacity on its railways," said Siemens CEO Roland Busch. "I’m proud that this major order will help India achieve its ambitious goal of creating the world’s largest green rail network, as our locomotives will save more than 800 million tons of CO2 emissions over their lifecycle," Siemens CEO Roland Busch added.

Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Limited, said, “Siemens Limited takes pride in partnering Indian Railways in this prestigious project. The 9000 HP electric locomotive is a significant milestone in the rail electrification mission of Indian Railways, and we are proud to build these in India using the latest technology provided by Siemens Mobility. This is another step in Siemens strategy of continued localisation under the Make in India vision of the Government, to provide integrated, cost effective and sustainable offerings to meet the nation’s freight and passenger transportation demands.”

Producing 9000 HP, they will be one of the most powerful freight locomotives in the world. They will be equipped with advanced propulsion systems that are also produced locally in Siemens factories in India as well as the Railigent platform to deliver high levels of availability and performance.

Additionally, the Government of India plans to increase the share of railways in freight to 40-45% from the current 27%. India is one of the few countries in the world with an almost fully-electrified rail network.