Siemens India has been awarded a Letter of Award (LoA) by Indian Railways for the manufacture and servicing of 9000 HP electric freight locomotives.
Over the span of 11 years, the Dahod railway facility will build 1,200 high horsepower (9000 HP) electric engines. Furthermore, it would require 35 years of service and maintenance on such engines.
According to a notification released by the Ministry of Railways on Saturday, the contract’s anticipated worth, excluding taxes and price fluctuations, is somewhere around Rs 26,000 crore (nearly USD 3.2 billion).
The contract will be finalized within 30 days after the release of the letter of award, according to the ministry. Siemens India was elected by Indian Railways via a fair, open, and competitive bidding procedure.
“The prototype locomotives are to be delivered in the coming two years. Dahod Unit will be fully constructed for manufacturing these locomotives within a period of two years,” it added.
The technology partner, Siemens, will build these engines in Dahod and service them for 35 years with the assistance of the railway’s crew at four maintenance warehouses: Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur, and Pune.
“Suitable economic drivers will ensure complete indigenization of the manufacturing which in turn will lead to the development of ancillary manufacturing units making it a true ‘Make in India’ initiative. The project will also lead to the development of the Dahod region and generate employment,” the ministry said in the statement.
Future workhorses for freight operations on Indian Railways will include these High Horse Power (9000 HP) engines. These locomotives are intended to be used largely on Western DFC as well as on graded sections of Railways for hauling container freight trains in double stack configuration weighing 4500 Tonnes at 75 kmph at 1 in 200 gradients, enhancing the average speed of these kinds of locomotives to roughly 50-60 kmph over the current 20-25 kmph.
Throughput will improve as a result of the quantum jump in the operation conditions, which will additionally boost line capacity. Due to the regenerative braking system, these engines’ cutting-edge IGBT-based propulsion technology will lead to energy reductions.