By Arun Kumar Das
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New Delhi, July 4 (BVI): Stepping up efforts for export of rail equipment and commercialising the production units, Indian Railways’ Banaras Locomotive Works (BLW) has exported two locomotives to Mozambique.
In the recent past, a diesel locomotive was flagged off for export to Africa by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Marhowrah plant.
Railway officials familiar with the development said that the BLW export was done as per the major contract awarded by Mozambique Railways (CFM) for manufacturing and supply of 10 diesel Locomotives.
BLW, a flagship production unit of Indian Railways, will dispatch the remaining eight locomotives by December 2025, said the officials.
“The global contract for 10 locomotives was awarded to RITES, a public sector undertaking (PSU) of the Ministry of Railways, who further got the locomotives manufactured at BLW. These are advanced diesel locomotives of 3300 horsepower. It is capable of running at a maximum speed of 100 kmph on Cape Gauge (1067 mm). BLW has exported locomotives to Mozambique earlier as well” said a senior official of the Ministry of Railways.
These 3300 HP diesel locomotives feature many special facilities for the loco pilot or the driver such as refrigerator, hot plate, mobile holder, aesthetic cab design, toilet etc. to ensure comfort for the driver in accordance with international standards.
The data available with the BLW shows that it has supplied a total of 10 Cape Gauge diesel locomotives (3000 HP, AC-AC) to Mozambique’s state-owned rail company CFM so far, with the oldest locomotive being sent in 2008-09. During the financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23, it supplied a total of five locomotives, which are currently in successful operation in Mozambique.
Apart from BLW, other production units such as Marhowrah Plant in Bihar have also started exporting locomotives. On June 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off a state-of-the-art locomotive built at the Marhowrah Plant, for export to the Republic of Guinea. This is the first export locomotive manufactured in this factory.
Officials said that since the establishment of Banaras Locomotive Works(formerly Diesel Locomotive Works) on 23 April 1956, it has manufactured more than 10,000 locomotives for Indian Railways, steel plants, mines, ports and export.
In January 1976, the first Locomotive was exported to Tanzania. After this, the locomotives manufactured here were sent to countries like Vietnam, Mali, Senegal, Angola, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mozambique, Sudan etc. In all, a total of 174 Locomotives have been exported by the BLW so far.
