The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) of the Indian Railways manufactured 301 coaches in February, taking the total for this fiscal to 2,919. This puts it among the largest railcar builders in the world, senior railway officials claimed on Wednesday.
Top Chinese manufacturers, sources say, produce around 2,600 coaches a year.
The total production at ICF, Chennai, which churned out India’s fastest train — the Vande Bharat Express, stood at 2,919 (April-February) coaches against 2,085 in the corresponding period last year, a 40% increase in production. The factory had produced 1,976 coaches during the same period in 2017.
“The rate at which ICF is producing the coaches, it will certainly end up at over 3,200 this (financial) year. This decidedly makes it the largest railcar builder in the world and bigger than the remaining five of India put together,” said a senior official.