Kolkata-based Ramakrishna Forgings has won the tender for setting up a plant to make forged wheels for the Indian Railways. At ₹1,88,000 a tonne, the company had quoted the lowest price in the bid.
The Indian Railways had been examining the possibility of setting up a manufacturing facility which can dole out 80,000 forged wheels, which help run locomotives and train coaches, annually for the next 20 years in a bid to reduce its reliance on China
The other two companies competing for the tender were Pune-based Bharat Forge and Steel Authority India Limited (SAIL) which quoted a price of ₹2,75,000 per tonne and ₹2,89,500 per tonne respectively.
Indian Railways has been importing various types of forged wheels required for locomotives and coaching stock (LHB) since the 1960s from the U.K., Czech Republic, Brazil, Romania, Japan, China, Ukraine and Russia.
In 2022-23, 80,000 wheels, worth approximately ₹520 crore, were imported from China and Russia, with remaining 40,000 being sourced from SAIL.
Currently, due to the Russia-Ukraine Crisis, all the import requirements of wheels are being met from China, the Ministry of Railways said in a statement. The Ministry anticipates that the requirement of wheels is projected to increase upto two lakh by 2026 onwards due to induction of more and more high speed trains.
To meet the requirement of forged wheels for the rolling stock, Indian Railways had floated a tender for setting up a manufacturing plant in the country, so that the requirement is met from domestic sources. “It is an important initiative in the Make-in-India Initiative for Import Substitution,” the statement further said.
Ramakrishna Forgings is expected to set up the manufacturing facility within 36 months from award date and supply the wheels of various types.
“To consider the learning curve and economies of volume, the price applicable will be reduced by 2% every year up to 3 years and the fourth year onwards, the applicable price will be 94% of the quoted price which is valid for the balance period of 20 years. The pre-determined price variation clause is applicable for the price on a quarterly basis,” according to the statement.
Once the new plant is set up, the full requirement of forged wheels for locomotives and coaching stock will be met from domestic sources, the statement says. Railways also stated that the existing domestic capacity of SAIL is production of 40,000 wheels annually while that for RINL, which is yet to start regular commercial production, is 80,000 wheels.
