Chinese firm exports transistor chips for Indian locomotives

China's leading locomotive maker today said it has made it's first bulk export of eight-inch transistor chips to India for upgrading the transformers of 100 electric locomotives to make the electric trains more energy-efficient.
CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co. Ltd, a state-run locomotive maker based in Zhuzhou City in central China's Hunan province, said that it exported eight-inch insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) chips to India.
The China-made chips are currently used on the 7,200-kilowatt electric locomotives that power it's high-speed trains.
IGBT chips will be used for upgrading the transformers of 100 locomotives in India to make the electric trains more energy-efficient.

The company built the world's second eight-inch chip production line in 2014, which has reached annual output of 120,000 chips and one million IGBT modules.
The IGBT chip is a key technology of modern electric appliances. It can be used in everything from high-speed rail to the aerospace and aviation industries.

The Chinese locomotive maker expects the chips to have huge export potential.
In August this year, CRRC had set up its first USD 63.4 million joint venture plant in India to repair and manufacture railway locomotive engines.
CRRC said in August that it was the first foreign company to set up assembly line of rail transportation equipment in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the 'Made in India'.

The joint venture, named CRRC Pioneer (India) Electric Co.Ltd, is housed in Bavo Industrial District located between New Delhi and Bombay.
The plant was set up with an investment USD 63.4 million and the Chinese side holds 51 per cent of the share. The India plant will repair and manufacture railway locomotive engines.
It will also provide technology support to India's rail system, and supply electric transmission systems to oil drilling, wind power generation and mining equipment making in India, the report said.
This is China's first major investment in Indian Railways after the two worked out a multi-pronged collaboration about Chinese participation in the modernisation of Indian railway systems.

While Indian Railway engineers are getting trained in China in heavy hauling, China is also cooperating with India to set up a railway university similar to the one it developed.
Besides the high-speed train, India and China have agreed to cooperate to identify the technical inputs required to increase speed on the existing railway line from Chennai to Mysore via Bangalore.
China is also conducting feasibility study to build high speed railway line between Chennai and New Delhi.
Japan has bagged the first bullet train project to build high-speed rail line between Ahmedabad and Mumbai.