'First in India' seating system rolled out for Vande Bharat

Tata Group has reportedly planned to spend Rs 30 billion on R&D by FY26 and is set on rolling out the first-in-India seating system for Vande Bharat Express trains from September 2022. The steel-to-salt conglomerate has targeted to be among the top 5 technology firms in the steel industry globally by 2030. Tata Steel's Composites division bagged the Rs 1.45 billion bulk order for seating systems of the Vande Bharat express that includes the supply of complete seating systems for 22 train sets, with 16 coaches in each train set. These are specially designed seats, which can rotate 180 degrees and have aircraft-style passenger amenities. The composites industry in India has been dominated by institutional businesses and is largely dependent on infrastructure, industrial and railway sectors. One of the key initiatives of the composites business was to convert to Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) applications where steel is currently being used.