The Indian Railways plans to cut foreign exchange spend on importing components and systems by encouraging indigenisation, including a part of it through global technology transfer.

“Around ₹10,000 crore is spent on overseas imports per year of which nearly ₹2,200 crore is for components,” Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Railways, said.

“We want to cut the import of components by around 20 per cent over the next two years as those produced here are both cheaper and of good quality,” he said, adding local manufacturing of small components and other equipment will not only cut the import bill, but also create employment.

Sinha was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a high-tech locomotive component facility at the Bharat Forge Centre for Advanced Manufacturing in Baramati, around 110 km from Pune.

This facility will focus on developing critical and sophisticated components for the railway sector globally. The Railways had earlier announced the setting up of two plants in Bihar to make locomotives, one involving a transfer of technology joint venture with French multinational Alstom.

Sinha said that land for the ₹10,000-crore project had been acquired and the first tender documents were being prepared.

Earlier, at the function, he said that since Independence, rail infrastructure had grown 2.25 times, while passenger and freight traffic had grown nine and seven times respectively. To fill the gap, the railways will build 20,000 km of new lines over the next five years, including 10,000 km through gauge conversion, he said. On rolling stock, he indicated that the Government plans to undertake heavy procurement over a prolonged period. The plan is to grow freight traffic by at least 2.5 times, Sinha added.

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