Indian Railways has gone back to importing wheel-making components from China after facing a shortage of wheelsets. The Rail Wheel Factory in Bengaluru, which usually supplies these, faced a production stoppage due to a lack of axles. This has left wagon manufacturers searching for alternatives to fulfil Railways orders.
To solve the problem, Railways importing 60,000 to 70,000 axles from China, with orders already placed.
There’s a catch. Railways has set up a swap deal for wagon makers.
Swap Deal
Wagon makers can import wheels from China for private orders, but they must give all Indian-made wheels to the Railways to avoid delays in public railway projects. Any imported wheelsets lying will be temporarily used, and later replaced with India-made offerings.
“Railways is not importing wheel-sets from China. Wagon manufacturers would, if required, post permission. Railways will import axles from China,” an official told businessline.
Wheelsets consist of wheels and axles—key components for train wagons. The axle is the rod, and the wheel is the wider object fixed to it.
A second official, however said, the national transporter has not allowed wagon manufacturers to import fresh wheelsets for fulfilling orders placed by Indian Railways. Rather the push is for temporary use of surplus offerings. To avoid any disruption in production, wagon manufacturers are temporarily allowed to use wheelsets that they had imported earlier for their private orders, but are currently lying unused.
“This is a barter arrangement only until May 2025. These wheels must later be replenished by the Rail Wheel Factory (RWF). New imports are not allowed, but only existing surplus wheel sets can be used,” the person said.
Wagon Makers Say
Texmaco Rail Infra mentioned in their Q3 FY25 investor call that their performance was lower due to the “non-availability of wheelsets from Indian Railways.”
“We used to import wheels, but now Railways allows us to use surplus imported wheels for wagons, with replenishment until April, mostly from China,” said Sudipta Mukherjee, the company MD.
Titagarh Rail Systems also noted that Railways had extended delivery time for wagons, “using imported wheels on a replacement basis,” said Umesh Chowdhary, VC and MD of the company.
“There are no financial implications except for minor inventory holding costs,” he added.
Manufacturing Delays
Indian Railways’ project norms mandate wagon-makers procure made-in-India wheel-sets to fulfill government orders. These are supplied by the Bengaluru unit, while axles are domestically procured or sometimes imported. Previously, Russia and Ukraine were key import nations.
A ₹200 crore axle line was being set up in Bengaluru to reduce reliance on imports.
The project was expected to be operational by mid-2024, but delays due to high-sea accidents and other issues have pushed back the timeline by 10-12 months. Production at the plant is expected to stabilise by May or June 2025, with annual capacity being of 30,000 axles, making Railways self-reliant.
“The unit is stabilising, and by mid-2025, around June, it should function normally,” the second official said.
Trial runs impacted production at the plant for four to five months, reducing wheel-set output.
Import Tenders
In February 2024, Indian Railways first floated tenders for axles from China, but they were withdrawn in anticipation of self-sufficiency.
However, tenders were reissued in October-November.
By the last week of April, the first shipment of 6,000-7,000 axles is expected, with supplies continuing for 10-12 months.
“We thought the proposed manufacturing facility at Bengaluru would be ready by October, but there were delays,” a second official said.
The Bengaluru wheel plant is operating at 60 – 70 per cent capacity at present, with an axle import requirement of at least 20 per cent.
Despite challenges, wagon production has continued without major disruption, a Railway official said adding that since October-February, production averaged 3,557 wagons per month, higher than the 3,334 wagons produced in the first half of the year.
