DMRC gets its first Metro car

DMRC gets its first Metro car
Bangalore, Sep 11, DH News Service:

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday flagged off and handed over India’s first standard gauge ‘Metro Car’ (train coach) to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), at the Bangalore complex of Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML).


He also handed over the country’s first aluminium wagon to National Aluminum Company Limited (NALCO). Expressing satisfaction on the facilities at BEML for building customised Metro Cars, the CM said he is looking forward to receiving the keys of ‘Namma Metro’ from Byappnahalli in December 2010.

The stainless steel air-conditioned coaches are indigenously manufactured at BEML’s Bangalore complex under a technology transfer from Rotem of South Korea and have been designed and manufactured to meet global standards with regard to passenger comfort and safety. The rolling stock are corrosion resistant and have an aesthetic exterior with a stainless steel car body and fire retardant GFRP interior panels, said defence PSU officials.

BEML has also bagged the BMRCL (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited) orders worth Rs 1,672.5 crores for the supply of 150 Metro cars for the City. The first set of these Metro Cars will be delivered by October 2010 for test purposes.
The Company has currently an order book of over Rs 5,036 crore including Rs 300 crore worth of export orders. Present on the occasion were DMRC managing director E Sreedharan, minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa and Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju.

R & D centre for Bangalore
Defence PSU, BEML will soon establish a centre of excellence for research and development (R & D) at its Bangalore complex, at a cost of Rs 125 crore, said BEML Chairman and MD V R S Natarajan. “We are awaiting clearance for the project that will come up on 10 acres land at our Bangalore complex,” he said speaking to reporters on Friday. He also added that BEML was working towards lowering cost of metro infrastructure by maximising indigenisation and looking forward to compete in global tenders overseas and bag orders and contracts.
"We are looking at UAE, Indonesia and Malaysia. We have already bagged orders of Rs 300 crore for supply of mining and earthmoving equipment to Indonesia and are also considering setting up an assembly plant in Indonesia," said Natarajan.