A consortium of Indian casting and forgings major Ramkrishna Forging Limited (RFL) and Indian railway rolling stock manufacturer Titagarh Wagons Limited (TWL) has emerged as the successful bidder to supply 80,000 steel forged wheels per year for a period of 20 years to national transporter Indian Railways (IR), a statement from TWL said on Thursday, March 16.
The consortium will set up an exclusive manufacturing facility in the eastern state of West Bengal entailing a cost of $3 billion. The manufacturing unit is scheduled to go into production within 36 months from the date of the signing of the contract.
Under the agreement with IR, the consortium will also have to set up a wheel test center at a railway site for testing the wheels that it supplies.
“As a leading supplier of passenger and freight rolling stock to IR, we are ready to take this opportunity to supply forged wheels and expand our product footprint and capabilities across the railway rolling stock segment,” TWL managing director Umesh Chowdhury said.
“The partnership with TWL is a strategic move towards expanding our presence in the railway segment,” RFL managing director Naresh Jain said.
The move to award the supply contract to the consortium by IR is aimed at reducing import dependency for the key railway component, particularly on China. In 2022-23, India imported 80,000 forged steel wheels from China, with the national transporter forecasting demand to rise to 200,000 units by 2026.