Indian Railways awards 39,000 train wheels tender to Chinese company

Indian Railways has awarded a contract for supply of 39,000 train wheels to a Chinese company after deliveries from other countries got affected because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It is said that the tender for solid forged wheels was awarded to TZ Hong Kong International Ltd.

The place of manufacture of these wheels is Taiyuan Heavy Industry Railway Transit Equipment Company at Dianzi Street in Taiyuan City, Shanxi, China. TZ Hong Kong International Ltd. is the international trading arm of Taiyuan Heavy Machinery Group Co, Ltd.

In this context, the move is significant due to the curbs imposed by New Delhi last July on investments and supplies from entities from nations sharing a land border with India after the Galwan valley clash with China.

Any bidder from such countries sharing a land border with India will be eligible to bid in any procurement whether of goods, services (including consultancy services and non-consultancy services) or works (including turnkey projects) only if the bidder is registered with the competent authority.

Railways has started work on local manufacturing. A senior rail ministry official said, “There is a need to develop the wheel manufacturing ecosystem in the country and domestic manufacturers seek longer-term visibility before investing in setting up facilities. These wheels are for the Vande Bharat trains. This development can be seen as a fall out of the Russia-Ukraine crisis as there is a dearth of rail wheel suppliers to India,” with knowledge of the matter as saying.”