CHENNAI: Seventy years after it first started importing forged wheels for railway use, India is all set to become an exporter of the train component, Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said in Chennai on Thursday. Plans are also on to export standard gauge Vande Bharat trains manufactured in Chennai’s ICF plant to other countries, Vaishnaw said.
Talking to reporters after the inauguration of the Chennai Design Centre of US-based semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm, the minister, who also holds the portfolio of electronics and information technology, said construction activities for setting up the plant to produce forged wheels has commenced in Tamil Nadu.
‘India soon to emerge as a major exporter of forged wheels’
A consortium of Ramkrishna Forgings and Titagarh Rail Systems Limited will start production of forged wheels for Vande Bharat trains at a plant in Gummidipoondi in the next 16 to 18 months, Vaishnaw said. The manufacturing facility set up at an outlay of Rs 650 crore in the first phase, will have the capacity to manufacture 2.5 lakh forged wheels of which 80,000 will be consumed in India and the rest will be exported, Vaishnaw said. India currently imports various types of forged wheels from the UK, Brazil, China, Japan, Russia and Ukraine.
But imports have been hit lately due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The wheels that are used in Vande Bharat trains are of special quality. They undergo a special manufacturing process, Vaishnaw told reporters. “Construction work for the factory to produce these wheels has started. “For 60-70 years, India was an importer of forged wheels. India will now emerge as a major exporter of these wheels,” he said.