Zee Business Exclusive: In a major boost to local manufacturing, the government has floated a tender worth Rs 5000 crore for manufacturing of 80,000 wheels for high-speed trains, a Zee Business channel report said. The government wants these wheels to be manufactured indigenously and through this tender, 1 lakh wheels will be supplied to Indian Railways every year. This is the first time when such a tender has been floated by the Ministry of Railways.

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Notably, the government has already announced that it will introduce as many as 475 Vande Bharat rakes in the next four years and 75 of them would be made available to the passengers by August 2023.

The government wants these wheels to be manufactured in the country and therefore wants state-run and private players to participate in the bid. 

Recently, the import of wheels from Ukraine for the Vande Bharat trains was affected due to the war. Several other companies that were supposed to provide wheels to the national transporter, couldn't deliver wheels on time due to supply chain issues emanating from the war. 

The move will take India a step closer to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious dream of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. 

For the financial year 2023, the government has set a target of 5,896 coaches and 1,190 locos. The national transporter will revise the target every year. More such tenders are likely to be floated by the Indian Railways.