Bombardier to develop Savli facility as export hub

After delivering 600 bogies to Delhi metro, Savli site got its first export order in June 2012 only three years after starting production

With substantial portion of its USD 2.7 billion order book to be executed at its Savli and Maneja facilities near Vadodara, Bombardier Transportation is looking to develop the former site as an export hub.

In recent times, the company has bagged several orders from various parts of the world including Brazil and Australia.  “QNGR is one of the largest projects for Bombardier Transportation globally and Savli site will manufacture 450 commuter cars along with its bogies. Substantial portion of USD 2.7 billion for Bombardier Transportation will be executed at its Indian sites in Savli and Maneja, both near Vadodara,” said Daniel Daigle, Vice President, Human Resources, Asia Pacific, Bombardier Transportation in a statement. Having made one of its most important and strategic investments of ' 230 crore in Savli site near Vadodara, Bombardier Transportation is developing it with an intention to promote export oriented activities. “As the site was built with the intention to develop export-oriented activities also, Bombardier keep evaluating prospects for exporting metro cars and bogies to Asia Pacific, Europe and North America,” said Daigle. Post delivering more than 600 metro cars to Delhi metro, Savli site received its first export order in June 2012 only three years after commencing commercial production, to supply bogie components for Adelaide EMUs to Bombardier Transportation Australia. Subsequently, the Savli site also started exporting bogie components for commuter trains in Victoria to Bombardier Transportation Australia.  In its third export order, it is exporting 521 bogie frames to Bombardier Transportation Brazil for Sao Paulo monorail.

In its fourth export order and first for metro cars, 75 six-car trains will be manufactured at Savli along with bogies for QNGR project to Bombardier Transportation Australia.

Within India, Bombardier is pursuing various metro projects such as Bangalore Metro Phase II, Ahmedabad Metro, Lucknow Metro, Pune Metro and Mumbai Metro Phase III. "We are also pursuing an option contract with Delhi Metro for 124 cars," Daigle added.

What's more, the company is also bullish about the upcoming high speed rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.  "Bombardier is one of the global leaders for high speed and very high speed trains with over 900 trains delivered worldwide. Our ZEFIRO high-speed trains are energy efficient with high capacity and smart interiors. Once the tender details are finalized, we would be very keen to participate and bring our high-speed train technology to India," he said, adding that Bombardier has been following the developments of Ahmedabad Metro and that it will evaluate bidding for the project once tender specifications are issued.

The company stated that in the wake of the new government allowing 100 per cent FDI in Railways, it was open to more investments and increasing employee base locally subject to winning the projects it is currently pursuing for India.

"For a company like Bombardier, which has been investing in India for the last five decades, it gives us an impetus to invest more towards transforming the rail transportation in India. We are interested in various rail projects in India and hoping to embark on a journey together with the new government to bring world-class rail infrastructure," Daigle added.