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The India-US joint venture rail plant at Marhowra in Bihar is all set to make a mark on global scale.

Come 2025, the Wabtec Locomotive Private Limited, a joint venture between Indian Railways and Wabtec, is expanding the capabilities of its plant to export locomotives to Africa.

For the first time, the plant will manufacture locomotives for export to a global customer.

The plant will supply Evolution Series ES43ACmi locomotives to global customers.

The ES43ACmi is a locomotive featuring a 4,500 HP Evolution Series engine, offering best-in-class fuel efficiency and proven performance in high-temperature environments.

It may be recalled that GE a $US 2.5bn contract was signed in November 2015 to supply 700 3.36MW ES43ACmi locomotives (designated WDG4G by IR) and 300 4.47MW ES57ACi units over an 11-year period through a joint venture with IR.
The first 40 locomotives are being built at GE’s plant in Erie, Pennsylvania, while the remaining 960 units will be assembled at a new joint venture production facility at Marhowra in the Indian state of Bihar.

Localisation will ultimately be stepped up to 70% of the value of each locomotive.

The first locomotive was delivered to India in February and GE says the project is on track, having achieved several key milestones. Currently, 45 of the locomotives are in India ready for inspection and acceptance by IR.

It will also enable the Marhowra plant to export standard-gauge locomotives globally, expanding the local supplier footprint and fostering long-term job creation, thereby benefiting the Indian economy.

The success of the public-private partnership between the Ministry of Railways and Wabtec has positioned the Marhowra plant as a world-class global manufacturing site, utilizing an extensive local supplier base from across India.

The Marhowra plant, situated on 70 acres in Marhowra, Bihar, was established in 2018 to indigenously manufacture 1,000 state-of-the-art locomotives for Indian Railways.

The plant provides employment to about 600 people and has been consistently delivering 100 locomotives annually to Indian Railways.