India: The company has announced plans to invest INR 18 bln, approximately $210 mln, in the plant, which will focus on producing metro cars and electric trains. The Madhya Pradesh cabinet ministers have allocated a 60 ha site for the plant’s construction in the state.
In recent years, BEML, which already operates a rail transport manufacturing facility in Bengaluru, has significantly expanded its backlog. Current contracts include the supply of around 1,000 metro cars for Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. For the national operator Indian Railways, the company is to produce ten Vande Bharat sleeper trains and two eight-car high-speed EMUs with an operating speed of 250 km/h. The latter vehicle will become the country’s first train of this kind.
The production expansion is part of the national Make in India initiative aimed at developing domestic manufacturing capabilities and technologies.
