BENGALURU: Rail Wheel Factory in Yelahanka, the country's premier manufacturer of wheels and axles for the Indian Railways, has bagged its first significant export order. The order for 1485 wheels and axles has come from Mozambique in Africa and the first batch has already been despatched.
This comes amid a major milestone in the history of RWF, inaugurated in 1984, which rolled out the four millionth wheel from its premises on October 21.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, General Manager Rajiv Kumar Vyas said the export scene was looking bright for RWF. "We have just sent the first consignment of 90 wheels and 45 axles for our first big international order to Diesel Locomotive Works in Varanasi, which is readying locos for Mozambique. Our order is worth Rs 8.13 crore and is for 1485 products -- 990 wheels and 495 axles."
Vyas was optimistic that RWF would fulfil the requirement by November this year.
A senior official said the order by Mozambique was for six locomotives that are being built at two different factories -- DLW in Varanasi and the Modern Coach Factory that is manufacturing 76 coaches and 30 Electric Multiple Units.
"RWF has exported its products internationally in the past but they were minor in nature. This order from Mozambique is the first bulk one the factory is receiving. Talks are on with Sri Lanka too but nothing has been finalised so far," he said.
The last export order was in 2005-2006 to Angola, Sudan, Tanzania and Mozambique but they ran to a few lakhs and involved only a limited number of items, he added. In 1995, RWF had despatched its products to the US for an order worth Rs 1.25 crore, he added.
"A team from Mozambique visited our factory earlier and was impressed with the work being done and wanted to use our products. The possibility of many other countries placing similar orders gets a boost now," he added.
The RWF has applied for the AARM 1003 quality certification. "If that is approved, it could export to North American countries," the official said. At present, RWF has the AARQA 5000 quality certification which permits export to countries excluding those in North America.