In January 2014, the Union Cabinet gave its approval for setting up Electric Locomotive Factory in Madhepura and Diesel Locomotive Factory (DLF) in Marhowra at an approximate cost of ₹1,293.57 crore (US$150 million) and ₹2,052.58 crore (US$250 million) respectively.[6]
On 9 November 2015, the Ministry of Railways awarded the contracts for Madhepura project and Marhowra project to Alstom and General Electric respectively in a collective amount of US$6 billion. This multi crore rupees deal was seen as the country's first FDI in the railway sector.[7]
After winning the contract, General Electric started the designing of locomotives.They were designed by the Indian branch of GE Global Research in Bangalore.Both the locomotives are based on GE's Evolution-series locomotives, which are one of the most fuel efficient and least emissions making locomotives in the world.To meet specific local requirements, the locomotive had to weigh only 22 tons per axle, while its American counterparts typically weigh 25 to 30 tons.GE faced a challenge to take out as much as 48 tons from the whole locomotive.[8]
The first locomotive rolled out GE's Erie plant on 3 August 2017 with the orange and yellow paint livery.[9]
General Electric's first diesel locomotive arrived in India on October 11, 2017 from the US.[10][11]
Production
According to the contract, first 100 locomotives to be imported or assembled using imported kits and the rest 900 be built in India with 70% Indian content. The locomotives will be built at Diesel Locomotive Factory, Marhowra in Bihar which is a joint venture between Indian Railways and General Electric with the former owning 26% stake and later owning rest 74%. The plant is expected to be operational from the first quarter of 2018.[12]
The plant will produce 100 locomotives per year for 10 years from 2019. The railways will be paying a cost of Rs146·6bn for 1,000 locomotives. GE would maintain the locomotives until the 13th year of the contract, at which point Indian Railways would take over responsibility for maintenance.[13]
