The Hindu Business Line : Chittaranjan Works targets 1,000 electric locos in 11th Plan

Chittaranjan (West Bengal) April 16 Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), the country's first railway production unit now producing three-phase electric locomotives, is gearing up to produce a major share of at least 1,000 locos out of the expected demand of 1,800 electric locos of the Indian Railways, as projected in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan.

In the current fiscal, CLW has planned to produce 200 electric locomotives, both freight and passenger versions, and for 2008-09, the figure is expected to be 250 locos.

The total budget for CLW's plant and machinery during 2007-08 is placed at Rs 14.6 crore, and for expansion of workshop Rs 66 crore has been sanctioned by the Ministry.

Briefing newspersons here today on CLW's future vision and production planning schedule for 2007-08, Mr V. Shankar, General Manager, said the unit was also planning to develop complete traction solutions to meet the competition expected in the near future, likely through new joint ventures in domestic electric locomotive manufacturing.

On the proposed upgradation of electric locos by the Indian Railways, Mr Shankar said the switch from 6,000 hp to the next notch of 7,000 hp may take another two-and-a-half years.

Pointing out that this would require fresh investments, he said CLW was also actively looking at outsourcing some of the components for the conventional locos, especially of items such as sub assemblies and other proven routine items. He, however, categorically stated that CLW was now fully geared to meet competition both qualitatively and quantitatively.

He said sustained efforts are being mounted by CLW to continuously upgrade technology through design innovations to achieve energy efficiency, long-term sustainability and cost reduction.

He added that the imported cost of WAG-9 locomotive was Rs 29 crore in 1995-96, and this has been now brought down by CLW to Rs 12.40 crore, with the imported component just over 9 per cent. "Our priority is to provide continuous customer support."

The GM said CLW was aiming to evolve a vendor-independent control, particularly inapplication specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and other essential components of the three-phase electric locos. Some eight ASICs have already been developed at CLW, resulting in cost savings of nearly Rs 30 lakh.