According to Friday’s announcement by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Railways have developed a plan to start exporting wheels, and a bid has been put out for the construction of a plant that will produce at least 80,000 wheels annually. He said that this was the first time the Indian Railways had released a tender to solicit private parties to establish a wheel factory and produce high-speed train wheels.
Every year, the Indian Railways needs two lakh wheels. One lakh wheels will be given by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), and the remaining wheels will be produced in a new “Make in India” plant, according to the plan.
During a news conference, Vaishnaw stated that the tender will be issued under the condition that the company will also export wheels to Europe. According to the tender, the factory must be operational within 18 months.
The wheels of the Vande Bharat train were stuck in war-torn Ukraine and had to be airlifted to meet the timelines set for their production.
