The Hindu Business Line : Bombardier to deliver Delhi Metro coach in June

Vadodara, Nov. 13 Bombardier Transportation India Ltd, whose new railway vehicle manufacturing plant was inaugurated by the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, here today, will start delivery of 424 metro rail coaches to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in June next year.

To ensure a successful transfer of technology, the first 36 cars, branded ‘Bombardier Movia’, will be produced by the company at its Gorlitz (Germany) plant while the remaining 392 coaches will be manufactured at Vadodara for the two-phased Rs 6,500 crore DMRC project.

Part of the century old Canadian-based Bombardier Inc, having a turnover of $ 17.5 billion, Bombardier Transportation is globally headquartered in Berlin. Its new production site here, was set up with an initial investment of 33 million euros. It has a capacity of manufacturing 24 metro rail cars per month, which can be expanded up to 32 cars a month. It would generate 750 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs in Gujarat.

Mr Stephane Rambaud-Measson, President, Passengers Division, informed that the company could also bid for other metro projects in cities like Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. In the next five years, India would generate a demand of 500 metro coaches per annum.

Mr Laurent Beaudoin, Chairman, said that Bombardier is open to a manufacturing partnership with Indian Railways for locomotives. Mr Rajiv Jyoti, President and Managing Director, said Bombardier would also bid for the Indian Railways’ proposed high-technology electric locomotive plant, for freight corridor projects, to be set up at Madhepura in Bihar for which the railways is looking for a private player.

The Railways would have a 26% stake in the entity while the private player would have 74%. In India, the demand for such locomotives would be about 800 units per annum in the next five years. The Savli (Vadodara) plant, the first in India to be wholly-owned by a global foreign company, was built in a record 18 months and its first railway cars are expected at the assembly lines by March 2009.

The company has been present in Vadodara for almost 35 years and the new facility has made this city the only one in the world equipped to deliver all key electrical and mechanical components for the manufacturing of railway vehicles, a true railway cluster in the country, the officials said.

Bombardier has supplied Indian Railways with technologically advance rail products such as WAP5 and WAG9 electric locomotives for passenger and freight applications and the Mumbai Traffic Management System (MTMS). This system controls the 60-km rail stretch around Mumbai on which the Western Railways run 1,000 trains every day.

The company has 43 plants across 21 countries with a presence in 60countries. In his address, Mr Modi said Gujarat is making efforts to emerge as a global manufacturing hub for surface as well as sea transport. The Tatas’ small-car Nano and Bombardier would give impetus to surface transport manufacturing activity. Two more companies have proposed to manufacture wagons in the State. Ship-making and repairing companies have also evinced interest as the State is striving to increase its share in this activity, from the current 4% to 10% globally in the next decade.

Mr M. Ramachandran, Union Urban Development Secretary, informed that 400-km-long Metros are under construction currently in India at an investment of Rs 85,000 crore. Also, 389-km of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) is being readied at a cost of Rs.4,000 crore.

Dr E. Sreedharan, Managing Director, DMRC, said only about a dozen and a half Metros, out of 175 globally, have actually succeeded under the public-private partnership (PPP) while the others had to be taken over by the governments in the respective countries.