By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian Railways will set up a coach factory in Kerala, the third in the country, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said while presenting the Railway Budget 2008-09 in the Lok Sabha Tuesday.
He said the state government has made available 1,000 acres for the factory. The decision to set up the factory was taken in view of the increasing demand for coaches in the country, the minister said.
Currently, the railways operates two coach factories in Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Kapurthala in Punjab.
The minister has invited private players to design and supply better wagons.
This would revitalise the wagons market because firms will tie up with overseas manufacturers for latest technology to build special purpose wagons, a railway ministry official said.
Till now all wagon designs were to be made by Research Design and Standards Organisation, a railway ministry organisation.
According to ministry data, the railways require 12,000 wagons a year against the present supply of 8,000 by wagon manufacturers. Railways would also need to build more coaches as Metro rail is laid in many metropolitan centres.
There is also a demand for coaches in countries that include Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Myanmar, Angola, Senegal and Male.
The railways will soon get special purpose wagons to carry commodities as a result of the opening up of the wagon industry, the official added.
The railways have been aiming to use wagons that are able to carry more weight so that returns from freights are increased.