GE Infra awaiting revival of bids for setting up locomotive unit

GE Infrastructure India, the infrastructure arm of global leader GE, is anxiously awaiting the Central Government’s decision to recall bids for setting up a diesel locomotive manufacturing unit in association with Indian Railways.

GE Transport, part of GE’s infrastructure operations, was the sole bidder for the project, to be located in Bihar at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,000 crore, but the project was dropped “without any communication to us,” GE Infrastructure President and CEO Pratyush Kumar said. The company is hopeful that the new Railway Minister takes interest in the project with multiple benefits and revive it.

Speaking to

The Hindu here on Wednesday, Mr. Pratyush Kumar felt that the Government was “not comfortable” in awarding the project before the elections as only one bid was received. But, it is natural as it required a company of GE’s scale of operations to pull it off,” he said.

Eyes aviation sector

The company was looking at the aviation sector and was in touch with the Ministry of Defence which invited bids for 126 multi-combat medium range aircraft. Meanwhile, General Electric will be setting up its first wind turbine manufacturing plant in India.

The diversified $183 billion conglomerate’s energy arm, GE Energy, will be setting up the Indian plant in South India, Tejpreet S. Chopra, President and CEO of GE India, said.