The company is also looking for partners in other geographical locations such as China and Russia
Voith Turbo, a unit of German engineering giant Voith AG, is in talks with Tata Motors for setting up a diesel locomotive manufacturing unit in India.
“We are looking for a partner in India for developing an alternative source for diesel engines and for that, we are in talks with the Tata Motors to set up a manufacturing unit in the country,” Voith Turbo Lokomotivetechnik Managing Director Hinrich Krey told PTI.
The company has already completed one round of negotiation with the Tata Group last year and is going to initiate the next round of talks by the end of the current year, Krey said, adding, “If every thing goes according to the schedule, the company might start working on plant in India by the 2011.”
He, however, declined to divulge details regarding the company’s proposed plant in India, citing confidentiality, but said, “The proposed plant would also cater to the need of Indian Railways besides supplying engines to the German parent company”.
On choosing Tata as a potential partner in India, he said Voith locomotive engines generate power up to 4,500 horsepower. Tata Motors has the capacity to produce engines up to 800 horsepower, which can be increased with the help of Voith’s expertise to suit requirements.
Besides this, the company is also looking for partners in other geographical locations such as China and Russia to expand its locomotive operations there.
The company’s locomotive business is controlled by the rail division of Voith Turbo and it has the capacity to manufacture around 80 units per annum.
German engineering firm Voith AG, have around 43,000 employees and has reported sales of over ¤4.9 billion in the last financial year.
Voith is one of the world’s leading family-owned companies and operates under four verticals, Paper, Hydro, Industrial Services and Turbo.
