BHEL signs deal with GE for hybrid diesel-electric locomotives

20 February 2009

Public-owned equipment giant Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd a public sector equipment manufacturer, has signed an agreement for a joint venture with US-based General Electric (GE) to manufacture diesel locomotives for Indian Railways, with an investment of Rs1,000 crore. The Railways will also hold a stake in the venture.

The facility is to be set up in Marhoura, Bihar, with an initial capacity to manufacture 120 locomotives a year. Bhel would hold a significant minority stake of 23 per cent, while GE would have the majority shareholding of 51 per cent in the joint venture. Indian Railways would take up the remaining 26 per cent.

"We have signed the agreement with GE, but the setting up of the company depends on winning the contract from railways," said BHEL chairman and managing director K Ravi Kumar, while handing over an interim dividend cheque of Rs298 crore to the central government.

GE has emerged the single bidder for assembling and supplying 1,000 dual-fuel locomotive engines to the Railways. The company is yet to receive the final order. "First, GE has to get the order for supplying the locomotives. Only then can we go ahead and form the joint venture," Kumar said.

The proposed joint venture will make 100-120 high-powered locomotive engines capable of running on both diesel and electricity at Marohwara.

GE Locomotive is designing a hybrid diesel-electric locomotive that will capture the energy dissipated during braking and store it in batteries. The energy can then be reused by the crew on demand, reducing fuel consumption by as much as 15 per cent and emissions by as much as 50 per cent compared to most freight locomotives in use today.  The energy dissipated in braking a 207-ton locomotive over the course of a year is enough to power 160 American households for that year. The hybrid locomotive will capture that energy, which can be used to produce more more horsepower and simultaneously reduce emissions and fuel use.