New Delhi: State-owned steel maker RINL is aiming to produce 55,000 wheels in the current financial year to meet the demand from Indian Railways, its CMD Atul Bhatt said. Visakhapatnam-based Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) has set up a forged wheel plant at Lalganj, in Uttar Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 2,350 crore with a capacity to manufacture one lakh forged wheels per annum.

PAC issued for forged wheel plant

"RINL supplied 2,465 Loco wheels and 2,639 LHB wheels to Railways in FY23. Preliminary Acceptance Certificate (PAC) has been issued for the plant and very soon production will be ramped up to 55,000 wheels in the current fiscal to meet the demand of Railways," he said.

'50% utilisation of plant will reduce imports'

"The targeted 50 percent utilisation of the plant will significantly reduce the dependence on imports and help the national transporter source the Made in India wheels of better quality than imported wheels," Bhatt claimed.

'Plant is one of the modern plants in world'

The CMD further said, "The plant is one of the most modern plants in the world and the first of its kind in India with state-of-the-art technology and the highest level of sophistication and automation. The forged wheels produced in RINL can meet the requirement of high-speed trains that run at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour." He said that there is a potential to double the plant's annual capacity to two lakh wheels with the addition of a few facilities to meet the domestic demand in the international markets.

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