Hindalco, Texmaco to make rail wagons, coaches; invest Rs 200 crore

Aditya Birla Group flagship Hindalco Industries, and Texmaco Rail & Engineering on Thursday entered into a strategic alliance and announced a Rs 200 crore investment to develop and manufacture aluminium rail wagons and coaches that will help the Railways achieve emission goals and boost operating efficiency.

The companies are identifying land in the Eastern region to set up a manufacturing unit and will invest around Rs 200 crore, Sudipta Mukherjee, Deputy Managing Director, Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd, which is the world's largest aluminium rolling and recycling company, told PTI.

He further said, the partners are considering the Eastern region to set to up the plant and hope to commission the same over the next 18-24 months.

The Railways has launched 'mission 3,000 mt' with a target of doubling freight capacity to reach 3,000 million tonnes by 2027 by augmenting its rolling stock, and help achieve a 45 per cent market share in freight.

To meet this ambitious target, the Railways is seeking to improve wagon design, and inviting wagon manufacturers to contribute their own designs to enhance overall capacity and the life of railway assets.

Recognizing these, Hindalco and Texmaco, which is into specialized engineering, have joined hands to explore opportunities.

The role of Hindalco is to provide profiles, sheets and plates of its aluminium alloys, along with fabrication and welding expertise, Satish Pai, the managing director of Hindalco said, adding Texmaco, being an expert in manufacturing freight cars for 80 years, will bring in technical expertise and be responsible for design, setting up the factory, production line and providing skilled workers.

Hindalco's in-house aluminium freight rake launched last year, which is the country's maiden aluminium rake, is 180 tonne lighter and offers 19 per cent higher payload to the tare weight ratio, consumes less energy with relatively negligible wear and tear, a joint statement from the partners said.

With the launch of the country's first, aluminium rake, the company has demonstrated the benefits of higher payload and significant CO2 reduction that aluminium rakes offer. This partnership will further strengthen the role in enhancing the value proposition for the freight industry as well as for passenger mobility, while helping the Railways achieve its net zero objectives, Pai said.

This partnership will go a long way in creating innovative and sustainable products further reinforcing our commitment towards reducing the industry's carbon footprint and driving a positive environmental impact, said Indrajit Mookerjee, vice-chairman of Texmaco.

The USD 28 billion Hindalco besides being the world's largest aluminium company by revenue, is also a major player in copper serving more than half of the domestic requirement.

Hindalco operates across the value chain, from bauxite mining, alumina refining, coal mining, captive power plants and aluminium smelting to downstream rolling, extrusions, and foils. Along with its subsidiary US Novelis, Hindalco is the global leader in flat-rolled products and the world's largest recycler of aluminium.

Texmaco is the flagship of the Adventz Group which also runs Zuari Agro Chemicals, Zuari Infraworld, and Hettich India.

Texmaco manufactures railway freight cars, locomotive shells and components, passenger coaches, and metro coaches and has five manufacturing units on the outskirts of Kolkata.