PM to Flag Off First Locomotive for Export from Bihar Factory to Guinea

The Indian Railways will be starting to export the locomotives to Guinea, a West African nation, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be flagging off the first inventory of locomotives to Guinea based on the topography of the areas. India will directly Indian Railways exports locomotives to Guinea as the country will supply the latter with 150 locomotives in the next three years. The locomotives will be employed in the transportation of freight at the mines of Guinea iron ore. This is a move by India to strengthen its exports and stand better in the railway industry globally. 

Context

• The Indian Railways will be starting to export the locomotives to Guinea, a West African nation, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be flagging off the first inventory of locomotives to Guinea based on Bihar

• It is an export operation of locomotives on behalf of the Public-private partnership (PPP) model, and it is a milestone moment in the export of Indian Railways.

Key Points

Send-off of the First Export:

• On June 20, 2025, PM Modi will launch the initial locomotive to Guinea at the Marhowrah factory in the state of Bihar.

• In addition, Modi will flag off a Vande Bharat train between Patliputra and Gorakhpur along with the locomotive.

Export Details:

• This is in the form of supplying 150 locomotives to Guinea in the next three years.

• These locomotives that are priced at 2.74 million dollars each are to be made available to ferry freight in the iron ore mines of Guinea.

Public-Private Partnership:

• The Marhowrah plant is the model of PPP, and the established joint venture is between GE Transportation (Wabtec) and Indian Railways.

• Guinea gave the contract to global tender on supply of 4,500 HP locomotives.

Economic Impact:

• The overall cost of the contract is 411 million dollars (roughly 23,533 crore).

• The project also boosts India's chances in exporting railways making its partnership strategy a success.

Fine milestone of Indian Railways:

• It is a first occasion that Indian Railways exports locomotives to Guinea directly, which is one step further as compared to the exports of previous times where the exports were done under a credit agreement and countries released, such as Bangladesh and Mozambique.

Future Exports:

• The initial 37 locomotives will be delivered in FY26, 82 in FY27 and 31 in FY28.

• This international tender that the Marhowrah factory has won highlights the growing level of competitiveness that the nation has in the international rail market.

Strategic Significance:

• Export of these locomotives forms part of the larger action plan by India to enhance its exports in infrastructure and transportation which will improve the economic links between India and West Africa.

Conclusion

The successful Indian Railways exports locomotives to Guinea is the first direct export of the locomotives manufactured at the Marhowrah factory to Guinea and this can only be identified as a milestone in the country where India is in the making in terms of locomotive export. The project highlights India, who is focusing even more on the development of international partnerships and the advancement of its export-based operational infrastructure.