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The Railways has signed an assured offtake agreement with SAIL-RITES Bengal Wagon Industry Pvt Ltd to procure 1,200 new stainless steel wagons and rehabilitate 300 wagons every year. SAIL-RITES Bengal Wagon Industry Pvt Ltd is a 50:50 joint venture between Steel Authority of India and engineering consultancy RITES and has a factory in Kulti in West Bengal, set up at a cost of ₹120 crore. The factory is expected to generate employment for about 400-500 people.
According to the agreement, the Railways will procure ₹2,500-crore worth of wagons spread over 10 years.
“The Railways will do the price discovery for wagons based on the tenders invited. The Railways also has other wagon production units such as Burn Standard and Braithwaite,” Hemant Kumar, Member-Mechanical, told BusinessLine on the sidelines of an event. India, the third largest steel producer now, hopes to take steel manufacturing from 100 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes in the next few years. “This is a win-win joint venture. We hope there is higher steel production so that demand is created for rail-based transportation as well…The Railways should also be looking at aluminium wagons,” Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said.
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