400 Vande Bharat trains: Rs 40,000-cr biz opportunity

Chennai: Rolling out 400 Vande Bharat Express trainsis about Rs 40,000 crore of business coupled with jobs and other spin-off benefits, said senior officials -present and past - of Indian Railways

Presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said 400 new energy efficient Vande Bharat trains will be introduced in three years. The Vande Bharat Express is a semi-high speed train designed, developed and built by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at a frugal outlay of Rs 100 crore.

The Indian Railways officials preferring anonymity said that 400 Vande Bharat trains over the next three years is not just headline catching announcement. It is about Rs40,000 crore business opportunity that would also create 15,000 jobs and several spin -off benefits.

Presently there are only two Vande Bharat trains that are running - Delhi to Varanasi and Delhi to Katra. "The trains without a pair are running six days a week without a breakdown till date since they were pressed into service a couple of years back. Perhaps Vande Bharat Express is the first train that is run without a pair," a senior official at ICF said with pride.

It is one classic example of 'Make in India' and far cheaper than similar trains that are rolled out by foreign companies. The train has only about 15 per cent import content which will further go down if production volumes increase, officials said earlier.