Ministry on Thursday signed two agreements with State-owned steelmaker RINl to set up a forged wheel factory in Raebareli. The plant worth `1,100 crore was announced in the Railway Budget for 2013-14 and is seen as a pre-election bonanza for Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s parliamentary constituency.
The forged wheel plant at lalganj in Raebareli will be set up on 40 acres of land near the existing rail coach factory and will produce one lakh forged wheels per annum in the first phase for locos and high speed trains. The plant will provide direct employment to 500-600 local people and an indirect employment opportunity to about 2,000 people.
Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The plant shall supply 85,000 wheels and there will be an assured off-take for 26 years (from the project) by Railways. The production from this factory will help in meeting the demand and will result in import substitution.”