BEML ties up with Alstom for high-speed coaches

To bid for new rail-link project to Bangalore International Airport

The defence PSU, BEML Ltd, has entered into a technology tie up with Alstom of France for transfer of technology to manufacture light, medium, high speed and double-decker railway coaches.

VRS Natarajan, chairman and managing director, BEML Ltd said the company plans to bid for all forthcoming railway projects that will use medium and high-speed railway coaches. Currently, the government of Karnataka is planning to build a high-speed railway line between the city centre and Bangalore International Airport at Devanhalli.

“We are awaiting expression of interest being floated by the government of Karnataka. This project is being done on the build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis. We will form a consortium with Alstom and another partner who will mainly bring funds to execute this project. Similarly, we are looking at such opportunities coming up in other cities like Hyderabad among others,” he told reporters, here today.

He said the company will manufacture these coaches at its Bangalore and KGF complexes, where it currently produces metro coaches and railway wagons respectively. Apart from technology transfer, Alstom will also use this agreement to source components for its global requirements, he said.

Natarajan said there was a scope to manufacture electric multiple units (EMUs) for the Indian Railways and double-decker coaches under the agreement with Alstom.

The company has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) for manufacture of stainless steel wagons for the upcoming high-speed freight corridor in the country. These coaches, which will have a carrying capacity of 22.5 tonnes, will be manufactured at the new plant under construction at Palakkad in Kerala, he said.

He said the R&D unit of BEML has indigenously designed these new coaches, which are cost effective, and maintenance free as stainless steel is used. The company has also developed low cost metro coaches, which cost Rs 6 crore per coach, compared to the traditional coaches that cost Rs 10-11 crore.

“We have proposed to the government of India to use allow us to manufacture these coaches for use in Tier-II and Tier-III cities which are coming out with metro projects,” Natarajan said.

The company has drawn up a capital expenditure plan of Rs 410 crore for the year 2009-10, an increase of close to three times compared to the previous year. Of this, Rs 260 crore is being spent to set up a greenfield plant at Palakkad in Kerala. BEML has set a target of achieving a turnover of Rs 4,000 crore during the year 2009-10, a growth of 33 per cent over the last year. Majority of new business will come from rail and metro and mining and construction business units, he added.