User:GhSourabh/Electric Locomotive Factory Madhepura

Electric Locomotive Factory Madhepura

Introduction
Madhepura is a city and municipality of Bihar which got it's existence as an independent revenue district on 9th May, 1981. It is located on the banks of river Kosi which originates from the Himalayas. It consists of 13 divisional blocks. It is surrounded by six districts of Bihar & has got a good road connectivity via NH 107 and railway connectivity via Saharsa Jn & Purnea Jn. The Singheswar Temple and diverse religious fests add glory to the ethnicity of the region.

History
During early 2005, former Railway Minister, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav announced the establishment of Concrete Sleeper Factory in the vicinity of Madhepura township. This factory was built after cutting down hundreds of Seasum trees, planted by Indian Railways earlier. However, the project became unviable as the factory was handled over to a private operator, resulting shut down in 2009. Due to this unfortunate closing of the plant, Indian Railways as well as Gov't of Bihar had to face a loss of INR 1400 crores. Soon after the setback, the Union Cabinet meeting of February 2007 decided to take a step forward by putting another plant in this region. This time it was Electric Locomotive Factory.

Timeline
During the tenure of Laloo Prasad Yadav, two tenders were finalized for setting up two multi crore rupees locomotive projects in Bihar. But in May 2013, the government had decided to start fresh bidding process for them with changed T&C. The railways had allocated INR 12.9 billion for Madhepura project and INR 20.5 billion for Marhowra project.

During Sep 2013, the Ministry of Railways had received bids from six global firms- Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier, General Electric, CSR Corp & CNR Corp. However, Indian Railways rejected the bid of both Chinese firms (CSR and CNR) for the two giant manufacturing projects in Bihar.

In January 2014, the Union Cabinet gave it's approval for setting up ELF Madhepura & DLF Marhowra at an approximate cost of INR 1293.57 crore and INR 2052.58 crore respectively.

In September 2015, first major FDI offer in railway was when three global infrastructure giants - Siemens, Alstom and Bombardier bid for setting up ELF Madhepura at the cost of nearly INR 1300 crore on a Joint Venture basis with Indian Railways. However, French major Alstom emerged as the lowest bidder for the setting up, production & procurement of electric locomotives in Madhepura, Bihar.

In November 2015, the Ministry of Railways awarded the contracts for the Madhepura project & Marhowra project to Alstom and General Electric in a collective amount of USD 6 billion. This multi crore rupee deal was seen as the country's first FDI in the railway sector under the Make in India initiative.

In December 2015, Indian Railways issued the Letter of Award to both the companies to establish Diesel and Electric Locomotive projects in Bihar.

French PM Francois Hollande visit to India in January 2016 made this project more sharper to execute. After the allocation of 275 acres of land to Alstom, the ground breaking ceremony was secretly done in March 2016. Although, land acquisition was sometimes tense but construction of the factory will start by July 2016.

Project
After all the ups and downs, the ELF Madhepura project will get kick-start from July 2016. As soon as the construction starts, it will take at least three years to complete and the plant will be ready for production from 2019.

Under the Joint Venture of Indian Railways and Alstom, the factory would manufacture and supply 800 electric locomotives of 12000 HP within a period of 11 years. The basic cost of 800 locomotives will be about INR 19000 crore. According to Indian Railways Knowledge Portal, the ELF would lead to substantial development of ancillary manufacturing units, generation and direct & indirect employment in the region.

The prototype locomotives are to be delivered in the next two years and only 5 locomotives are allowed to be imported and rest 795 locomotives are to be made in India. According to Alstom India managing director Bharat Salhotra, this project would start with employing 100-150 people and can go up to a maximum of 500 people.

"Madhepura locomotive factory would be a game changer for Bihar" - Bharat Salhotra

Financial Assets
As a joint venture company, both Indian Railways and Alstom are set to invest collectively a huge amount of USD 4.9 billion for ELF Madhepura. Ministry of Railways will hold 26% equity in this joint venture subjected to a maximum of INR 100 crore. The contract ensures complete indigenisation of locomotives making it a true Make in India proposition. These efforts made by Ministry of Railways in this direction has received wide appreciation.

Outcomes
These high HP locomotives are planned to be used in the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and for PAN India operations for hauling freight trains of 6000 tonnes. With it's modern features, the average speed of such trains will be around 60 kmph over the existing 25 kmph. This will enhance the line carrying capacity of locomotives.

In terms of employment, it would give employment not only to Bihar but also nearby areas like West Bengal and Jharkhand.

Also, the multiplier effect in railways is nine, so with the two big FDI projects in Bihar, it would give strong fillip to the Bihar Economy.