China's leading train maker launches operation in India

Photo taken on June 25, 2015 shows a "China Standard" high-speed train at the manufactory of China CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co, LTD in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin province. [Photo/Xinhua]

China CRRC Corporation Ltd, the country's largest rail transportation equipment maker, announced Saturday its first joint venture plant in India started operation.

It is the first time for the company to open a plant in south Asia where one of the world's most comprehensive rail system spans.

CRRC is also the first foreign company to set up assembly line of rail transportation equipment in India after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled his ambitious "Made in India" campaign in 2014, the company said in a press release.

The joint venture, named CRRC Pioneer (India) Electric Co Ltd, is housed in Bavo Industrial District of Haryana between New Delhi and Bombay.

Total investment is $63.4 million, and the Chinese side holds 51 percent of the share.

The India plant will repair and manufacture railway locomotive engines. It will also provide technology support to India's rail system, and supply electric transmission systems to oil drilling, wind power generation and mining equipment making in India.

CRRC Vice President Yu Weiping said the new plant will create jobs and tax revenue for local people and help improve infrastructure.

It will advance cooperation in industrial capacity and local equipment manufacturing, he added.

India has one of the world's largest railway network spanning about 64,000 kilometers. Since its presence in the Indian market in 2007, CRRC has supplied it with subway trains, locomotive engines and other railway vehicles and parts.

"Given more than 60,000 kilometers of railways in India, it is far from enough to build a single locomotive engine plant in India," Yu Weiping said.

"CRRC will build more plants able to produce trains, locomotive traction systems and other key parts in India," he added.

CRRC, formed from the merger of former rivals CNR Corp and China CSR, has been aggressively reaching out to overseas markets, exporting rail transportation equipment to 101 countries and regions.

Its first plant in North America started operation in September 2015 in Massachusetts, the United States.