Railways floats tender of Rs 30k cr for 800 electric train engines

09 May 2022 CW Team

On 4 May, the Indian Railways floated a tender for the manufacture and supply of 800 electric train engines under a contract worth around Rs 30,000 crores.

These electric train engines of 12,000-horsepower will be supplied over the next 10 years and will be manufactured at Varanasi's Banaras Locomotive Works.

The notice inviting the bid stated that these train engines are to be maintained at Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Tughlakabad (Delhi), and Sabarmati (Gujarat).

These electric train engines are to be utilised all over the Indian Railways and dedicated freight corridor (DFC) routes. Each train engine must be competent in hauling 6,000 tonnes of load at an average speed of 75 kilometres per hour (kmph).

The concept of trains for freight movement was proposed in 2007-08. Generally, the freight trains were underpowered, and this slowed down the movement of trains.

Railway Board former member traffic, VN Mathur, told the media that the new locomotives would be much more competent in handling heavy-haul loads on the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC).

In 2015, a similar tender for 12,000-HP electric locomotives was awarded to Alstom as a contract part worth about Rs 28,195 crores.

The contract was to supply 800 locomotives for freight service, competent in hauling 6,000 tonnes at a maximum speed of 120 kmph.

This contract has been the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) project in the Indian railway sector till now.

A retired railway official told the media that this was the first successful public-private partnership (PPP) of the Indian Railways. Alstom had bid for supplying at around Rs 38 crore per locomotive. At that time, the international market value was around Rs 60 crore per locomotive.

Image Source

Also read: Railways invites bids for 200 Vande Bharat Trains

Technology

29 Jul 2026

AI-Enabled Workflows Lift Profitability and Productivity

Organisations modernising frontline workflows with artificial intelligence, automation and real-time data are reporting stronger financial performance, higher productivity and improved employee engagement, according to a global study by Zebra Technologies and Oxford Economics.The research covered 1,000 senior leaders across retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics in the US, Mexico, the UK, Germany, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.In transportation and logistics, 54 per cent of companies that improved picking and packing operations reported faster operational performance, wh..

India Leads Global AI Readiness but Implementation Lags

Indian companies lead global averages across all eight artificial intelligence readiness indicators tracked by JLL, but only 19 per cent have started making changes to their workplaces, according to the JLL 2026 Future of Work Survey.The study found that 77 per cent of Indian business leaders expect AI to change their office requirements, creating a 58-percentage-point gap between awareness and implementation. The survey covered more than 2,200 CEOs, CFOs and real estate leaders across 21 countries during the first quarter of 2026.Despite concerns over automation, 58 per cent of Indian leaders..

Three WOLFF Cranes Build Riyadh Cable-Stayed Bridges

Three WOLFF 180 B luffing jib cranes are supporting the construction of two cable-stayed bridges alongside the existing Wadi Laban Bridge in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The project is being developed for the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and executed by the ICRC joint venture comprising IC Ictas and Al Rashid Trading & Contracting Company.The cranes are handling lifting operations including formwork, reinforcement, concrete placement, work platforms, surveying equipment and other construction materials. Each crane is fitted with a 40 m jib, reaches a hook height of 157 m and offers a maximum ..