‘Rejected’ Madhepura gets electric loco unit from Lalu

Following his twin triumph on Chhapra and Madhepura Lok Sabha seats in the last general election, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav decided to retain the former.

Following his twin triumph on Chhapra and Madhepura Lok Sabha seats in the last general election, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav decided to retain the former. Now, three days before he presents this year’s Railway Budget, Lalu had a gift for the relinquished constituency.

With the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs according approval today, Madhepura will now house the country’s second electric locomotive manufacturing facility after Chittaranjan Locomotive Works. The facility, to be set up at a cost of Rs 1,294 crore, is projected to produce 120 electric locomotives per year.

Sources said it was only after months of deliberations that the final location had been fixed.

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Having already secured Cabinet clearance for setting up a Rail Wheel Factory and a Diesel Locomotive Factory at Chhapra in Bihar, this is the third major manufacturing unit out of the four, which has gone to Bihar. Sonia Gandhi’s constituency Rae Bareli has got the Rail Coach Factory.

With the Railways having expressed its intentions to rope in global private players to help them set up these units, Bihar is likely to be home to three world-class units. While companies like Bombardier, Alstom and Siemens will be in the running to partner the Madhepura project, General Electric and Electro-Motive Division would be front-runners for the diesel loco manufacturing plant in Chhapra.

The CCEA also cleared the proposal to construct Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors today.