Explained: How a GE factory at Marhowra became a 'Make in India' flagship

In the first of the two-part series, Shine Jacob analyses how a GE factory at Marhowra became a 'Make in India' flagship

The shop floor buzzes with activity as the finishing touches are given, with a proud flourish, to the 100th locomotive to roll off the assembly line. GE Transportation’s manufacturing unit at Marhowra, 80 km north of Patna in Bihar, is an unlikely place to become a showcase of Make in India but it is.  

GE started working here ever since it signed a $2.5 billion contract with the Railways in 2015 for the supply of 1,000 high-power freight locomotives over 10 years. 

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Make in India scheme in 2014, Marhowra was hardly part of India’s industrial