The Marhowra factory
As per the contract with the Government of India, GE Transportation's Marhowra factory in Bihar needs to be ready by February 2019. "However, our aim is to have the factory ready in the July-Sept Quarter and start production in the end of the year. We will be ramping up production from the factory to start delivering 25 locomotives every quarter. Once operational, this factory will be supplying 100 locomotives to Indian Railways every year (i.e. one locomotive being built every three days). "The facility will produce our Evolution series 4500HP and 6000HP locomotives. These locomotives will not only the most fuel-efficient locomotives in Indian Railways fleet but will also be the first emission friendly complying with International emission standards," Jain shares.
How would Jain compare the GE Marhowra facility with the GE factory at Fort Worth in Texas, US? "Our Fort Worth factory is a 900,000 sq. feet lean facility that manufactures our Evo series locomotives for the North American Market and in recent times has started catering to our international customers as well. It currently manufactures from 2000 - 6000 HP locomotives and can deliver up to 600 locomotives per year," Jain says. With regards to direct comparison, Jain says that in terms of layout and design, the Marhowra facility is a replica of the Fort Worth factory but at a smaller scale. "It will follow similar lean manufacturing techniques to achieve high level of efficiency and quality," he adds.

Looking at localisation
Jain believes that the partnership of Indian Railways and GE on this project will go a long way in building a state-of-the-art infrastructure which will be aligned with the ‘Make in India' initiative. "Once fully operational 70 percent of the locomotive components will be localised. Some of this localisation has been enabled by our global suppliers setting up base in India while the rest of it comes from Indian suppliers. We estimate that the project will create or sustain 6000 plus jobs in the manufacturing sector," Jain shares.

Managing Maintenance
Recently, GE Transportation has also unveiled its first maintenance shed set up on design, build and operate model at Roza in Uttar Pradesh. Jain believes this facility will also play a significant role in the Company's operations in India. The state-of-the-art Roza Maintenance Shed in the Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh has been built on 20 acres land with an investment of over Rs.200 crore (US$ 35 million). "It will have a remote monitoring centre to track the performance of locomotives and live trouble-shooting in case of any problems. It will also house a modern training institute for Indian Railways pilots with full motion simulator. The maintenance shed itself will use digital and analytical tools linked with the remote monitoring centre there to improve availability and reliability of the locomotive fleet," Jain informs.

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