State-run transporter, Indian Railways (IR) is aiming to bring down its imports of all critical components including steel rails, axles and wheels to nil over a period of one year, according to a government official.
In a statement issued by IR, it said that it is planning to incorporate ‘local content clause’ in its procurement policy to ensure it gets greater participation from domestic manufacturers of key steel components for railways and bring down imports to nil within the next one year.
Last year, IR sourced critical requirements of track maintenance equipment, steel wheels and axle through global tenders for international suppliers.
According to the government official, steel wheels will be sourced from a plant being set up by state-run steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) which is expected to go into commercial production later this year.
He said that over the years, imports as proportion of total procurement of IR have been falling from levels of seven percent in 2016-17 to 1.46 percent last year and aim was to become import dependency free within the next one year.
Recently, IR placed an order for 6,000 axles with CRRC Datong Company, China of estimated value $5 million, 60,000 steel wheels with Taizhong Hong Kong International and 4,000 axles with CRRC Yangtze Tongling, China.
IR yakın zaman önce, Çinli CRRC Datong Company’den yaklaşık 5 milyon $’a 6.000 aks, Hong Konglu Taizhong Hong Kong International’dan 60.000 çelik tekerlek ve Çinli CRRC Yangtze Tongling’den 4.000 aks siparişi verdi.
However, on the flipside, IR which has cut its annual budget for current year by 80 percent due to pandemic is expected to hit steel producers supplying to the transporter.
According to an official with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), the latter’s annual business in supplies to IR is around INR 80 billion ($1.06 billion) and budget cut by the transporter is expected to impact this aggregate business in supplies of various steel products to it.