Budget 2023 Expectation: Rs 2 trillion outlay likely for Indian Railways, says Titagarh Wagons MD & CEO Umesh Chowdhary

Budget 2023: Domestic railway sector is expecting a Rs 2 trillion budget outlay for FY2023-24 in the upcoming Budget 2023, the proceeds of which will be utlised for building new lines, gauge conversions, electrifications and enhancing signal systems, Umesh Chowdhary, Managing Director and CEO at Titagarh Wagons told Zee Business in an exclusive interview.

Infrastructure focus is at the centre of government’s priorities and railway plays a big part in the scheme of things, Chowdhary said while spelling out sector’s expectations from this year’s budget announcements. 

Headquartered in Kolkata, Titagarh Wagons is a manufacturer of passenger rolling stock for trains and metros. 

The government focus is also on reducing country’s dependence on importing railway coach wheels and manufacturing them in India. The emphasis will also be on building multimodal transport infrastructure in the company.    

The government has given a full throttle support to the state transporter over the past many years, the MD & CEO said. The sector has been infused with new vigour as the Indian Railways department has reinvented itself, he further said.  

Railways is definitely more cost efficient and has significantly lower carbon footprints than road transport, Chowdhary said.  

In a first, Titagarh Wagons manufactured railway coaches using aluminum for Pune metro. He said that aluminum is not only lighter and recyclable, it also has less carbon footprints in comparison to stainless steel or normal steel wagons or coaches, Chowdhary claimed.  

Railway’s is constantly focusing on introducing technologies which are not just cost efficient but also are environment friendly, he said. 

The MD & CEO said that the company is sitting on an order book worth Rs 10,200-10-300 crore and earned revenues of approximately Rs 625 crore in the September quarter. 

He said that it has a ‘Made In India’ consortium with BHEL and is the only Indian consortium which has placed bids for Vande Bharat. The other companies which have placed their bids have foreign players as well. 

The company is also receiving metro tenders as the government plans to create metro network in 50 cities in India. The company has also signed agreement with Bengaluru metro.

Watch Full Interview Here