Amid Russia-Ukraine war, India to airlift wheels of Vande Bharat trains

The Indian government’s plan to launch dozens of new Vande Bharat trains this year seems to have problems with import orders from Ukraine trapped because of the ongoing Eastern European Final War with Russia.

According to the PTI news agency, India has ordered 36,000 wheels at a cost of $ 16 million with Ukrainian-based companies. Payment for this must be done through a credit letter.

The wheel is planned to be sent from the Ukrainian Black Sea Port to Maharashtra’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). But this hasn’t happened until now, because of the war.

Ukraine, which is one of the largest wheelables in the world, has stopped new production with most staff who joined the war effort.

The Indian authorities only managed to transport 128 wheels to Romanian neighbors through roads, from which this will be flown for the trial of the train next month.

With the efforts of the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of External Affairs, the 128 wheels needed for the two train trials were sent to Romania through truck roads from the wheel factory in Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine,” he said.

Sudhanshu Mani, a former General Manager of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai and the brain behind the train Vande Bharat, also stated that the inventory struck by the Russian-Ukrainian war would not be a severe setback for the train effort.

The Indian authorities only managed to transport 128 wheels to Romanian neighbors through roads, from which this will be flown for the trial of the train next month.

With the efforts of the Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of External Affairs, the 128 wheels needed for the two train trials were sent to Romania through truck roads from the wheel factory in Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine,” he said.

Sudhanshu Mani, a former General Manager of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai and the brain behind the train Vande Bharat, also stated that the inventory struck by the Russian-Ukrainian war would not be a severe setback for the train effort.But the steps to order with other countries will substantially increase the procurement costs “because of their high demand and limited supply”.

There is fear of the lack of wheels in the global market with Ukraine holding 70% of the Order of the European Union Wheel for Railcar Freight.

In 2022 its budget speech, Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that 400 train Vande Bharat will be produced in the next three years, which is expected to cost between ₹ 40,000 crores and ₹ 50,000.

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