NEW DELHI, India — GE Equipment Services, the transport solutions provider of the General Electric Company, announced today that it has provided financing to ETA Engineering Pvt. Ltd. (ETAPL) for the purchase of more than 200 rail wagons for use on India’s railways.
The wagons are designed to carry freight containers. Container cargo is the fastest-growing freight segment, increasing on average at approximately 15 percent annually. The increase in foreign trade and the containerization of domestic cargo are largely fueling this growth. Container flat trains are also part of the government’s new railway wagon policy that has led to the emergence of 14 private train operators in India.
“We are pleased to help ETAPL increase India’s rail freight capacity,” said Dhanajay (Dan) Nalawade, Equipment Services President and CEO for India. “Container wagons are in great demand today with a long order backlog, but with the help of Titagarh Wagons Ltd. we were able to find a win-win solution for everyone and help ETAPL meet its customer demand.”
Titagarh Wagons Ltd., for whom Equipment Services is the provider of vendor financing under their recently formed strategic relationship, manufactures the wagons that Equipment Services has financed. The Titagarh wagons have been constructed to the most up-to-date specifications in the Indian market.
ETAPL, a subsidiary of ETA Ascon, offers electro-mechanical services to hotels, commercial buildings, hospital and various industries. They have also successfully undertaken projects in the infrastructure sector including the Delhi Metro Rail Project and Chennai Tidel Park.
ETAPL has entered into a concession agreement with Indian Railways to operate container trains. ETA Senior Executive Director Noorul Haque said, “ETAPL shall soon start container train services under the brand name of FREIGHTSTAR.”
The Indian government plans a rail corridor dedicated to containerized freight transport, and as a result the demand for container flat wagons is expected to quintuple over the next five years. The Delhi-Mumbai corridor accounts for over 75 percent of India’s container freight traffic.
Nalawade said, “Our transaction with ETAPL is the first of what we hope are many opportunities for GE to contribute to the growth of India’s rail freight system and to the country’s other transportation and supply chain networks.”
— Business Wire
