Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a mission to overhaul the country’s crumbling infrastructure and, having tripled spending on roads on highways, he also plans to spend $137 billion over the next five years on upgrading India’s rail networks.
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The USA industrial company’s planned expenditure is the result of GE and French engineering firm Alstom receiving contracts worth a combined $5.6bn (£3.68) to modernise Indian Railways.
Late Monday, the government said it had awarded a $2.6-billion contract to General Electric to develop and supply Indian Railways with 1,000 diesel locomotives over a period of 11 years.
The contracts are the biggest deal to be awarded by India to foreign firms. The total value of the contract and the new factory is about 200 billion rupees ($3 billion), he said.
Calling the deal “one of the strongest endorsements of the “Make in India” policy of the government”, Alstom said the freight locomotives to be delivered between 2018 and 2028 will play a crucial role in boosting the nation’s transport infrastructure.
This project includes the set-up of a plant at Madhepura (Bihar) and two maintenance depots at Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Nagpur (Maharashtra).
Much like the GE deal, the Alstom project to help modernize India’s railways will be pivotal in boosting India’s infrastructure development.
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“GE will manufacture 1,000 diesel locomotives while Alstom has been picked for 800 electric locomotives meant mainly for heavy haulage”, he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
