Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that the project awarded to General Electric (GE) to build diesel locomotives at Marhowrah in Bihar was on track, amid news reports that the government was planning to end the contract. “The Marhowrah factory is being set up and I think it’s on track. In fact, their South Asia and India head met me about five-six days back and requested us to send people for inspection,” Mr. Goyal said at a press conference.
“One of their locomotives is about to be dispatched and will arrive here soon. So, the work on the factory is going on. It’s on track as per the plans,” he added. GE had won a $2.5 billion contract in November 2015 to supply 1,000 diesel locomotives to the Indian Railways.
Railways’ proposal
The Railways had reportedly proposed winding up the project, in a review meeting chaired by Mr. Goyal earlier this month. “The government is firm on its commitment. Anyway, we already are producing dual-mode engines in Varanasi. So, in future, even if we think on those lines, it’s not a rocket science to convert diesel to electric plant,” Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said. Amid reports of government contemplating end of the Marhowrah plant contract, GE had put out a statement this week saying any such move would put foreign investment at risk and “undermine the government’s signature Make in India initiative.” “If railways moves forward with changes to the joint venture, they will undermine one of the most promising infrastructure projects in the country and put future foreign investment at risk,” GE had said.
Mr. Goyal said that electrification of the rail network is important to address the concerns of climate change and to save billion dollars every year. “In light of that, we had fruitful discussions with GE. I discussed with them how their locomotives will be useful for us or how we can explore opportunities where some of these could also be exported. Or if we can look at opportunities going forward where we can meet the twin objectives of reducing pollution and saving cost.” he added.
Talking to The Hindu in an interview last week, Mr. Goyal had said that the Railways would aim for 100% electrification and prefer electric over diesel engines as the former is indigenous and a self-sufficient resource.
