Tender for locomotive manufacturing at Dahod executed transparently: Indian Railways

The tender for manufacturing and maintaining 9,000 horsepower (hp) electric locomotives at Dahod in Gujarat was executed in a transparent manner, an Indian Railways spokesperson said on Monday (June 23, 2025). 

The Indian Railways, which falls under the Ministry of Railways, was responding to allegations by the Congress party over the process by which a ₹26,000 crore contract for manufacturing 9,000 hp locomotives was awarded to Siemens Limited by the Indian Railways. The Congress, in a press conference on Monday (June 23, 2025), questioned the transparency in awarding the contract to Siemens, and called for a parliamentary inquiry into the issue. 

“The recent statements by Siemens clearly indicate that only the final assembly, testing, and commissioning are being done at the factory in Dahod,” former Congress MP Brijendra Singh said at the press conference.

“The rest of the critical components, including the engine systems and power converters, are being produced at factories owned by Siemens in Nashik, Aurangabad, and Mumbai. This goes against the government’s original claim that Dahod would be turned into a full-fledged manufacturing site,” Mr. Singh said.

The Ministry of Railways had not disclosed the details of competing bidders, nor did it publish any comparative evaluations, the Congress further alleged.

“The public has no way of knowing whether companies like Alstom or Bombardier were given a fair opportunity or not. In fact, Alstom already has a proven track record of delivering 12,000 hp locomotives, and has an accepted history of technology sharing,” Mr. Singh said. 

“The tender for manufacturing and maintaining 9,000 hp electric locomotives was executed in a transparent manner. There are two electric locomotive manufacturers globally who have the capability to design and manufacture 9,000 hp electric locomotives — Alstom and Siemens — both of them participated in the tender,” the Railways spokesperson said. 

The tender was evaluated by a team of technical and financial experts, in line with the processes that the Indian Railways has always followed, the spokesperson added. “In technical evaluation, both Alstom and Siemens were equally placed. In the financial bid, the bidder with the lowest price was awarded the contract,” the spokesperson said. 

Rebutting allegations by the Congress, the Railways spokesperson said that about 89% of the components used in the the current locomotive manufacturing process at Dahod were made in India. 

“The Railways component manufacturing ecosystem is rapidly growing in India. A locomotive is a very complex machine and its components are equally complex. They are manufactured at various locations in India and supplied to various locomotive manufacturers. Very few countries in the world can claim the level of manufacturing components that India has been able to achieve because of the thrust given to manufacturing in the last decade,” the Indian Railways spokesperson further stated. 

The Congress also flagged the issue of conflict of interest. “What sounds more concerning is that the current Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has previously served as Vice President of Siemens India and was employed by both Siemens and GE Transportation… This raises a direct question of conflict of interest, especially since Siemens secured its largest-ever contract in India under his tenure…,” Mr. Singh said.

The Railways spokesperson, however, denied conflict of interest. “The entire tender process was executed by teams of officers who are technically and financially competent to handle such matters as per rules. There is no question of conflict of interest because the process was followed as per the rules and procedures that the Indian Railways has always followed,” the spokesperson said.

“There was no involvement of the Minister of Railways in the tender evaluation process. Moreover, both Siemens and Alstom have been working with Indian Railways for many decades,” the spokesperson said.