Made in India Wheels for Vande Bharat, End of  Chinese wheels!

Made in India Wheels for Vande Bharat, End of Chinese wheels!

By Gkbooks 16 March, 2023

Kolkata Consortium Wins Bid to Supply 'Made in India' Wheels for Vande Bharat Trains, Ending Dependence on China

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Ramkrishna Forgings and Titagarh Wagons have emerged as the lowest bidder for manufacturing wheels for Indian Railways' semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains.

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The tender was floated to reduce the Indian Railways' import dependence on specialized wheels.

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The winning consortium will set up a modern manufacturing facility in India for forged wheel production.

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The consortium will supply approximately 1.6 million wheel discs of different rolling stocks of Indian Railways over a period of 20 years.

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The winning bid was Rs 1.88 lakh per tonne, which was more competitive than the other bidders.

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The biggest challenge before the consortium will be setting up the manufacturing facility within 36 months from the award date.

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Under the contract, the applicable price offered by Railways will get progressively reduced by 2% for three years once production starts.

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The Railways has been meeting the requirement for forged wheels required for locomotives and coaching stock from various countries since the 1960s.

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The requirement of wheels is projected to increase up to 2 lakh from 2026 due to more high-speed trains running on the Indian Railways' route network.

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