Wabtec Transit’s business to grow 20% annually over next 3 years 

Wabtec Transit, a part of Wabtec Corporation, expects its business in India to grow by 20 per cent annually over the next three years, reaching ₹2,500 crore, owing to a strong project pipeline for Vande Bharat, metros, and Indian Railways’ move towards electrification, according to Ajay Mani, Managing Director, Wabtec Transit.

In CY2022, the company generated revenues of ₹1,650 crore from its operations in the country. 

Going forward, in the next three years, he said, “We expect Vande Bharat to be one of the largest growth factors, which will be followed by the metros and regional trains. Moreover, our after-sales business, which is also growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 25 percent will grow significantly.”

Currently, for Vande Bharat, Wabtec is providing products such as brake panel assembly, brake electronics, automatic doors, couplers, and more.

As for its current projects, Mani noted that they are executing brake system orders for the Mumbai metro in addition to the orders from the Indian Railways.

He said, “We have also been recently granted the order for brake systems for the Pune Metro. And of course, we do have orders for breaks, doors, couplers, and pantographs for Vande Bharat. Then there’s the aftermarket business, which has a healthy order backlog.”

Furthermore, the company is also collaborating with various car manufacturers and metro operators on some of the new tenders, such as those for the Bangalore and Delhi metros, which will be announced shortly, he told businessline.

Investments made

With an eye towards continued expansion, the company has invested ₹40 crore in acquiring 10 acres of land in Rohtak and has lined up approximately ₹60 crore for 2023, with all investments funded by internal accruals. 

“We are in the process of constructing a new plant, which will be a consolidation of our two plants in Baddi and Bahadurgarh. It is expected to be operational by the end of 2023,” said the MD. The consolidation comes as a result of logistical reasons, as its major customers are based in the north.

In their Baddi plant, the company makes brake systems for electric coaches, and the Bahadurgarh plant is in the friction business: double-leaf doors, brake blocks, and brake pads.

Mani said, “Since we have space, we will eventually bring about the manufacturing of more products, such as metro and railway doors, electronics, and passenger information systems.”

Wabtec has another facility in Hosur that caters to six customer segments; it invested ₹75 crore in its expansion last year. The company operates in six segments — e-loco, LHB, trainsets, EMU/MEMU, urban metro, and regional trains. Among its customers are Indian Railways, metro operators (BEMRCL, CMRL, DMRCL), and loco, wagon, and car manufacturers (BHEL, BEML, and Siemens).

Growth opportunities

The company said it is always open to investing in any possible factors of growth. “We are open to exploring opportunities across the brakes, safety, and energy comfort after-sales service segments. If any of the organisation is well managed and has good growth potential in the country, we will surely be open to them,” Mani said.

Although Wabtec Transit’s business is largely focused on the domestic market, it exports some of its products, such as couplers and compressors, and this accounts for about 5 per cent of its total business. Mani noted, “The Indian railway is the second largest market and poses a huge demand potential.”

Wabtec Corporation is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange with an annual turnover of $8 billion in CY2022 and a global headcount of 27,000 people.

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