Global rail leasing major Touax Group, Kolkata-headquartered Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd and US-based TrinityRail Global Inc have formed a tripartite joint venture to expand railcar leasing in India, with TrinityRail acquiring a 32 per cent stake in Touax Texmaco Railcar Leasing Pvt Ltd (TTRL) and creating the country's first global railcar leasing platform.

No financial details were disclosed.

The venture will combine manufacturing, leasing, financing and lifecycle management to serve India's freight rail market, estimated at around Rs three trillion (Rs 3 tn). The platform will introduce advanced wagon designs and professional leasing models aimed at reducing maintenance costs and improving asset utilisation.

Texmaco chairman Saroj Kumar Poddar described the tie-up as a defining moment and said the partners' combined strengths would build a scalable and resilient platform. Trinity's chief executive and Touax Group's chief executive said the partnership would bring advanced wagon designs, lease finance experience, lifecycle expertise and the financial scale required to support expanding freight requirements.

The venture will offer an integrated ecosystem covering wagon design, manufacturing, leasing, maintenance, lifecycle engineering and financing while focusing on indigenised production through Texmaco's facilities and Global Capability Centre in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. Customers are expected to benefit from asset-light operating lease models that enable access to modern rolling stock without large upfront capital expenditure.

The announcement comes as India seeks to raise rail's share in freight movement to 45 per cent from 27 per cent, a shift expected to generate demand for freight wagons and attract private sector investment. The partners intend to leverage manufacturing and leasing capabilities to meet demand and to offer lifecycle services that lower total cost of ownership and accelerate modernisation of freight rolling stock.