Titagarh Wagons plans to invest around Rs. 1,000 crore in 5 years.

Titagarh Wagons is planning to invest around Rs. 1,000 crore in a mix of brownfield and greenfield projects in the next five years.

The Kolkata-based company is expanding wagon manufacturing capacity from 8,000 units per year to 12,000 units per year in the next two-three years at its Titagarh plant and setting up a new stainless steel coach manufacturing facility at Uttarpara. It will also set up a shipyard at Falta in South 24 Parganas of West Bengal.

The company caters to both the domestic and export markets. It supplies wagons to Indian Railways and private sector companies. “We are planning to export wagons to African markets. We also want to export wagon components to the US and European markets,” Titagarh Wagons vice chairman and managing director Umesh Chowdhary told FE.

Chowdhary said the new stainless steel coach manufacturing unit will be a brownfield project as the company is creating a new factory at its existing facility at Uttarpara. It already has an EMU manufacturing facility at the Uttarpara facility. “Currently, we have a capacity to manufacture around 200-250 coaches in one year. We will expand the capacity to manufacture up to 450 coaches. Stainless steel coaches are for metro rails. We are already supplying coaches to Pune Metro,” the vice chairman said.

The shipyard at Falta is a greenfield project for Titagarh Wagons and it is expected to be completed within three to three-and-half years. “Currently, we are a debt-free company. We will use future cash flows to invest in brownfield and greenfield projects. It will be mixed financing. All these projects are expected to create direct jobs for more than 5,000 people,” Chowdhary added.

West Bengal chief minister indicates government might start the legal process to take back “idle land” lying with Hindustan Motors

CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday inaugurated the stainless steel coach manufacturing facility and remotely inaugurated the new shipyard in Falta.

Speaking on the occasion, Banerjee said the state government will look into the possibility of taking back “unused land parcels” for developing industrial zones to attract investments and create employment.

She indicated that the government might start a legal process to take back “idle land” lying with Hindustan Motors at its Hind Motor premises at Uttarpara. She asked why the vast land at HindMotor is lying idle with no activity. “Close to 700 acres of land is lying there. I will ask the chief secretary to look into it. And, if it is required, take over the land. If there is a court case, fight it out,” Banerjee added.

Hindustan Motors, India’s oldest car maker, stopped production of the Ambassador in 2014, citing debt and lack of demand for the vehicle. It declared “suspension of work” at the Uttarpara plant with effect from May 24, 2014. The CK Birla group sold the Ambassador car brand for `80 crore to French automaker Peugeot in 2017.

The company recently said it is planning to manufacture electric vehicles at its Uttarpara plant. It signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a European car maker in April this year for launching electric vehicles, primarily two-wheelers.

“That was a non-binding agreement. Due diligence will start. If due diligence, technical evaluation and financial evaluation go right, we expect by the end of the fourth quarter this fiscal, we would be able to sign a definitive agreement,” Hindustan Motors director Uttam Bose told FE in May.

“After the binding agreement is signed, it normally takes five to six quarters to launch the vehicle. We plan to first roll out two-wheelers. We will evaluate the possibility of launching four-wheelers later,” Bose added.

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS