Railway locomotive factories approved in Bihar

The Ministry of Railways' proposal for setting up two factories in Bihar, for manufacturing electric and diesel locomotives, has been approved by the Cabinet. To be set up in Madhepura and Marhowra (in the districts of Madhepura and Saran respectively) in Bihar, these factories will be a joint venture between the Ministry of Railways and an international manufacturer, who will also provide state-of-the-art railway locomotive technology.

The companies that are in the running for this joint venture project in Bihar are Alsiom (France), Bombardier (Germany) and Siemens (Germany) for the electric locomotives factory, and GE (India) and EMD (USA) for the diesel locomotives factory. The two factories will be set up with an estimated investment of about Rs 2,000 crore.

Over the next 10 years, the Ministry of Railways intends to source 800 electric and 1,000 diesel locomotives from these factories. The locomotives will be maintained by the joint venture company over the next 25 years.