West Bengal wagon makers rejoice over rail budget

Kolkata, July 3 : Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's pledge that her ministry will buy 18,000 wagons in 2009-10 has excited West Bengal's wagon makers Friday.

'It's good news for us. Though the traffic did not increase much last year, she has taken this decision. This is very good for the industry. We should build the stock, so that when the demand rises, we can supply them right away,' said Titagarh Wagons managing director Umesh Chowdhary.

Titagarh Wagons is one of the leading private sector wagon makers in India. It also manufactures bailey bridges, heavy earth moving and mining equipment, and steel and iron castings.

'We are delighted with the decision to develop two dedicated freight corridors,' said Ramesh Maheshwari, president of K.K. Birla group company Texmaco. Texmaco makes a range of machinery as well as freight cars.

In her rail budget speech earlier in the day, Banerjee said the freight corridor projects in western and eastern India were important for creating infrastructure in the country and generating employment.

Pawan Kumar Ruia, chairman of the Ruia group that has wagon manufacturer Jessop in its fold, welcomed the proposal to set up a coach factory at Kanchrapara in West Bengal.

'Jessop has been manufacturing EMU coaches for a number of years. More than 60 percent increment in the wagon procurement target will also be a boon for Jessop. We are now ready with improved designs of wagons, and wagons made of aluminium,' Ruia said.

Similarly, the state-owned Burn Standard too is hoping for a new lease of life following Banerjee's announcement that her ministry will speed up the process of taking over the ailing company's wagon units.

'We are happy. We hope something positive works out. Lalu Prasad Yadav (former railways minister) also took up this issue in his interim budget speech,' Burn Standard's Howrah unit general manager Anindya Das said.