The Metro coaches of the three upcoming Metro corridors will be 'Made in India.' Indian firm Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) won the contract to manufacture 63 driverless Metro trains of six coaches each by defeating other firms from China, Germany, France, and Korea.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on Saturday, announced that Metro trains for the three Metro corridors — Dahisar-DN Nagar Metro-2A, DN Nagar-Mandale Metro-2B, and Dahisar East-Andheri East Metro-7 — will be manufactured in India. The appointment of BEML can be seen as a step towards the government's 'Make In India' initiative.
The appointment of BEML was finalised at Rs 3,015 crore at the per car rate of Rs 7.98 crore. The MMRDA also said that it saved around Rs 1,100 crore as its tentative calculated budget was around Rs 4,000 crore.
The funding for the project is being provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that had earlier objected to a 'Make in India' clause in the agreement compulsory for companies; the clause was relaxed after ADB objected to it. "However, with the appointment of an Indian firm there is no doubt that the coaches will be Made in India," said an MMRDA official.
The MMRDA on Saturday further said a prototype for the coaches will arrive in the city by next year after which trial runs will start by late 2019. The commercial operations for Metro-2A and Metro-7 are expected to start by 2020. However, in the case of Metro-2B, work is stuck due to a pending court case.
Meanwhile, some of the features of the driverless Metro trains have been disclosed. They will be fully air-conditioned with seats for the differently-abled, will have USB ports for charging electronic gadgets and also CCTV cameras. RA Rajeev, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said, " A major milestone has been achieved with the placement of rolling stock (Metro coaches) contract. We are confident that our rolling stock will be of world-class standard with latest passenger-friendly facilities. Now, our focus is to ensure speedy delivery."
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