JSPL bags Rs 665 crore rail contract from RVNL

Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) said on Thursday it has bagged an order from Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) to supply 89,042 tonnes of rails at a cost of Rs 665 crore.

India's only private manufacturer of rails will supply UIC 60 kg IRS T-12 880 grade 13-metre rails for RVNL's upcoming projects. RVNL functions as an extended arm of the Ministry of Railways.

JSPL said the required rails will be manufactured and supplied from its Raigarh facility, which has a capacity to supply over 50,000 tonnes of rails per month.

It is the company's second big rail order in less than a year. The first-ever rail order for supplying close to one lakh tonnes rails to Indian Railways was completed in April, four months ahead of time.

"This contract will provide an important foundation for our future rail business," said Joint Managing Director Naushad Akhter Ansari. "The order is indicative of JSPL's strategic commitment to growing its footprint in the domestic rail segments," he said in a statement.

Part of the 22 billion dollar OP Jindal Group, JSPL has a presence in steel, power, mining and infrastructure sectors. It had set up a modern rail mill at its Raigarh plant in 2003 to become the second player after government-owned SAIL to produce rails in the country.