India’s Hilton Metal Forging Ltd (HMFL) has successfully developed and manufactured forged railway wagon steel wheelsets, which have been duly inspected and approved by RITES, the Indian government’s inspection authority, a company statement said on Wednesday, June 18.
Each wheelset consists of two forged wheels and one forged axle, with every coach or wagon requiring four such sets, the company said.
This will enable HMFL to cater to the growing domestic demand for railway wheelsets, addressing the shortfall in India and reducing dependency on Chinese imports, the company said.
It said that in fiscal 2025-26 it planned production of 3,000 forged railway wagon wheelsets, scaling up to more than 12,000 units in 2026-27.
The company has outlined a total installed capacity of 20,000 wheelsets per year.
Currently the annual demand of national transporter, Indian Railways is around 170,000 new railway wagon wheelsets and 250,000 new wheels.