The Centre has put the rail wheel manufacturing project of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) on the fast track. According to the Government sources, the Rs 1,000-crore plant in Rae Bareli, UP, that can make one lakh wheels a year, has overtaken RINL’s Rs 400-crore rail axle project in New Jalpaiguri, West Bengal.

Priority

“The Uttar Pradesh project has been accorded priority even though the West Bengal project was planned earlier,” said a senior Steel Ministry official. The two related projects are part of the diversification project of the PSU steel-maker.

A Railway board member, on condition anonymity, said both the Ministries of Railways and Steel are planning to lay the plant’s foundation stone in April.

The wheel plant is proposed to be set up on 40 acres belonging to the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) at Rae Bareli.

RINL had signed the MoU with the Railways for the Rae Bareli project in December 2012. The MoU for the New Jalpaiguri project — Uttarbanga Rail Karkhana (URK) — was signed in January 2011. RCF was “dedicated to the Nation” on November 7 last year by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in the presence of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Sources in the Rail and Steel Ministries told Business Line that the definitive agreements — for annual offtake, pricing model and the renewable 30-year land lease — for the project could be ready early next fiscal.

Agreements

“Currently, negotiations and the preparatory processes are on at a fast pace. The Railways need to spell out terms to RINL, which will get a detailed project report prepared and vetted by an independent financial inistitution,” a Steel Ministry source said.

RINL sources confirmed that the Uttar Pradesh project appeared to have stolen a march over its West Bengal counterpart. RINL was waiting to sign the definitive agreements, including the land lease deal for the 47-acre West Bengal project. RINL’s West Bengal unit is expected to make 50,000 axles a year.

jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

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