Jindal to export railroads to China, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia

Nisha Das
15 January 2003

Mumbai: Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) is planning to export railroads from its Rs 400-crore Rail and Universal Beam Rolling Mill to China, Bangladesh and Southeast Asian counties in the first phase of the plant's operation.

JSPL's railroad project, to be commissioned by March 2003, will produce the longest railroads in the world, each 120 metres long. This will enable Indian Railways to run trains at a speed of more than 300 km per hour.

Says JSPL vice-president (corporate finance) Sushil K. Maroo: “We are bidding for different rail projects in countries like China and Bangladesh. The company has already placed bid proposals with respective authorities.“

Currently, only Steel Authority of India manufactures 13- and 26-metre-long rails. They are welded together to form 130-metre-long rails which are used by the railways.

Maroo says JSPL is also setting up a flash butt-welding line that will weld four 120-metre rails together for a total length of 480 metres. This will smoothen the tracks by bringing down frictional resistance substantially as the tracks will have only four welded joints per half km and three fish plate joints per km as against the present at least 18 welded joints per half km and seven fish plate joints per km.

He says the company is also getting enquires for different corporates which are building up rail-port connectivity for the movements of export goods. According to company estimates, once commercial production begins, the rail mill could generate sales worth Rs 1,200 crore annually of which around Rs 200 crore will be on account of exports.