The early success of the Madhepura loco factory, combined with its large pool of engineers, has catalysed over 30% of Alstom’s global engineering activities happening from India, according to Vivek Garg, Managing Director of Madhepura Electric Locomotive Private Limited (MELPL).
MELPL manufactures India’s most powerful 12,000-horsepower locomotives, which run on dedicated freight corridors and can haul loads of up to 6,000 tonnes. The company is a joint venture between Indian Railways and French major Alstom, with Alstom holding a 74% stake. It supplied its 650th locomotive to the Railways on August 15.
In an interview with The Indian Express’ Dheeraj Mishra, Garg also discussed Make in India manufacturing, global practices, the new suppliers it has brought into the ecosystem and future plans for the project, one of the largest foreign direct investments (FDI) in India’s railway sector.
Edited excerpts:
What has changed from your first to 650th locomotive, and how much of it is “Made in India”?
There has been a massive change. Our centres of competence are based across Europe. Initially, the locomotives were designed there, and some of the first locomotives also had key components manufactured there, while assembly was done in India, as permitted under the contract.
We then quickly transferred the technology and manufacturing capabilities to India. Today, we manufacture the motors here, propulsion systems at our Coimbatore facility, and locomotive shells (car bodies) at our manufacturing facility in Kolkata.
When we entered into the joint venture in 2015, there was no formal Make in India policy. Even then, we made it a point to localise production and build the entire ecosystem in India. Today, we have more than 90% localisation across all components.
We have also brought more than 30 established suppliers into the railway manufacturing ecosystem. There are still a few components that we import, such as wheels and axles, because there is currently no supplier in India for this particular design and specification. At present, these components are sourced from China and Ukraine.
What is your plan for future expansion after the contract expires?
The existing contract is for 800 locomotives, with the contract period running until March 2028. We have supplied 650 locomotives so far, and the remaining 150 will be delivered by March 2028. The contract also gives Indian Railways an option to order an additional 200 locomotives.
We are in discussions with Indian Railways on how we can maintain continuity of production at Madhepura. We are hopeful that something will come out of these discussions.
And is there any plan for exports?
We are exploring every possible way of maintaining continuity. We have this land lease for 35 years. The entire investment and the facility you saw will remain in place. It therefore makes sense to continue utilising the facility for manufacturing. We are discussing this with Indian Railways.
What has been the impact of this project so far?
Today, more than 30% of Alstom’s engineering work globally is done in India, and the confidence and capabilities developed through the Madhepura project have been an important part of that journey. We have created a large pool of engineers in India who are now contributing to the design of locomotives as well as urban trains for global projects.
We are also changing the locomotive maintenance system. Traditionally, it was largely schedule-based — the locomotive had to return to the depot at fixed intervals. However, our teams at Saharanpur, Nagpur and Sabarmati use condition-based monitoring to assess the actual health of the equipment and determine what maintenance is required. On top of this, digital tools help with predictive maintenance.
With the help of these tools and by skilling workers, we have been able to cut down our maintenance time by almost 20% and material requirements by close to 15%, which is a huge efficiency gain.
Apart from this, in FY24, MELPL’s GST contribution was equivalent to 1% of Bihar’s total GST collection.
The average speed of freight trains is still around 25 kmph. How can it be increased?
We are not really specialists when it comes to operations. But we can contribute from the product design and manufacturing point of view. For example, the Railways has a vision of reaching a 45% market share in five years and increasing freight haulage from around 1,600 million tonnes to 3,000 million tonnes. To achieve that, the Railways need heavy-haul locomotives that can haul long trains and heavy loads at higher speeds.
Our locomotive can haul a 6,000-tonne load even on a gradient of 1-in-150 at a top speed of 120 kmph. This capability can contribute to Indian Railways’ vision of increasing freight haulage to 3,000 million tonnes.
What is the average operating speed of your locomotives?
I mean, we do monitor it closely and, like you pointed out, on the DFCC tracks, it is around 50 to 60 kmph on average. It is nothing different because the average speed for all locomotives on Indian Railways, based on the data that you just spoke about, is similar for our locomotives. They have the potential, but currently this is what they have been clocking.
Your locomotives can run at 120 kmph but wagons are slower. Isn’t there a mismatch in the push for higher speeds?
It is true that to increase train speeds, both wagons and locomotives need to be fit for that speed. However, average or balancing speed depends on several other factors. Frequent stops and starts, waiting for passenger trains to pass, and delays at coal yards while waiting for loading can all reduce the average speed and utilisation of freight trains. Ultimately, what matters is the time taken to travel from one destination to another.
So, if you have to go from destination A to B, a distance of 1,000 kilometres, even if you achieve a top speed of 120 kmph and an average speed of 20 kmph, it does not help. But if you have a top speed of 80 kmph and an average speed of 50 kmph, you move far more quickly.
The design of this locomotive is interesting. How did you decide to couple two locomotives to make it one?
It is not two locomotives that have been coupled. It is a single locomotive. If you look at a typical locomotive, it has six axles and two bogies. The haulage capacity of a locomotive is directly linked to the number of axles.
However, the Railways wanted an eight-axle locomotive under this project. To integrate eight axles into a locomotive, you need four bogies. If you integrate four bogies into a single section, it becomes rigid. So, the best way is to create two sections.
Therefore, we do not call it two locomotives; rather, they are two sections of a single locomotive. This configuration is required to achieve a speed of 120 kmph. We have a platform called Prima, based on which this product was developed.
Vivek Garg, Managing Director of Madhepura Electric Locomotive Private Limited (MELPL) 
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