GE keen to form JV with Railways for locomotives: report
By Our Corporate Bureau | 26 Jun 2007
Mumbai: General Electric is keen on build a plant in India to make diesel locomotives jointly with the Indian Railways, reports said.
GE has proposed to invest in a plant with an annual capacity of 100-120 locomotives a year, involving investment of $100-200 million, reports quoted the CEO of GE Infrastructure India, Pratyush Kumar, as saying.
The joint venture is proposed to be majority-owned by GE, the report said
The Railways, which operates more than 14,000 passenger and freight trains daily, is looking for state-of-the-art technology for building new plants, sources pointed out.
The railways have drawn up ambitious plans to upgrade its freight haulage capabilities. In 2005, the railway ministry had mooted a dedicated rail freight corridor to decongest the network at a cost of Rs 60,000 crore. This is expected to result in huge orders for locomotives.
Currently, the Railways make all their rolling stock (locomotives, wagons and coaches) in-house. However, the technologies used in the existing facilities are dated.
The Railways is expected to float a tender soon to set up such a production facility through private-public partnership.
GE has identified India as a key driver to expand its business. This year, GE is expected to clock a turnover of $2.8 billion in the country. By 2010, GE hopes its India business will rise to $8 billion – 16 per cent of its projected turnover of $50 billion from emerging markets.