Formal commissioning of Rae Bareli coach factory this month

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who has put the project on top priority, will also be attending the formal commissioning of factory in Gandhi's constituency.

While a tentative date has been fixed at November 7, a final date will be announced shortly as ground works are being finalised, a senior Railway official said.

Preparations are in full swing so that Congress President Sonia Gandhi can dedicate the modern factory to the country this month, the official said.

Cash-strapped Railways have just released Rs 150 crore for the factory against the demand of Rs 400 crore. The project received a push after the Railway Ministry came to the Congress party.

Railways have agreed to provide jobs to about 1,400 persons in compensation for the land acquired for the Rae Bareli coach factory, putting an end to the deadlock over the issue. Jobs will be given to the land owners in 'Group D' category.

The country's largest public transporter had acquired 541 hectares of land for the coach factory out of which 283 hectares belonged to private land owners.

The Rae Bareli coach factory is expected to cater to Railways' increasing demand for coaches by annually rolling out about 1,000 LHB coaches. Currently, the factory is engaged only in assembling LHB coaches.

"We are in the process of acquiring modern machinery and equipment for manufacturing LHB coaches in a full-fledged manner," the official said.

At present, the bogies and body of stainless coaches are being supplied by Kapurthala Coach factory and "once the required machinery is acquired, it will manufacture modern coaches," the official said, adding that, "IRCON has been given the responsibility to execute the project." (More)