India to launch local rail wheel production

By Trend

India will begin manufacturing wheels at the Rail Wheel Factory, a manufacturing unit of Indian Railways, which has already announced tenders for the necessary parts for production, Trend reports, citing Indian media.

As India’s plans on importing wheels got disrupted due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Indian Railways decided to launch own production, which is expected to be completed over the next 2-3 months.

Meanwhile, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that 400 new Vande Bharat trains will be developed and manufactured over the next three years. The target is to roll out 75 trains by August 15, 2023, according to a timeline announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The wheels are expected to be brought to Chennai in batches between in the second half of the month, and taken to the factory where the train sets are being assembled.

The ministry aims to get surplus wheels for not just the 75 train sets that it has to assemble by August 15, 2023, but also for the next lot.