ICF saves money in manufacturing Train 18

Austere ICF spent only Rs 97 crore on Train 18, which is three crore less than the sanctioned sum.

Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in the country could learn a lesson or two in austerity from ICF (Integral Coach Factory).

The premier coach factory of Indian Railways, which rolled out the country’s maiden indigenous semi-highspeed train - Train 18 - recently, had only spent less than the sum sanctioned by Union Railway ministry for the train. ICF had manufactured the first train set of Train 18, which is currently on trial in Northern Railway, using Rs 97 crore, Rs 3 crore less than the fund sanctioned by the ministry. Senior ICF officers who revealed the production cost to DT Next said theRs 100 crore was sanctioned by the ministry only based on the estimates prepared earlier, but, in the course of production, they had found ways to cut cost, especially in sourcing materials.

In fact, the production cost of the 180kmph capacity train could come down in the coming months. “The Rs 97 crore also includes consultancy charges paid to the foreign firm which offered solutions in tune with our customiSed train requirement. Consultation is no longer needed. So, the production cost of the remaining trains would be devoid of the consultation fee and hence less than the money spent on the first train set,” the officer explained, refusing to reveal the amount paid to the consultant. The railway board has already instructed the factory to manufacture four sets of engineless Train 18s in the coming year.

Curiously, ICF has demonstrated thriftiness not only in Train 18 production, but also the state-of-art underslung MEMU built for Northern Railway recently. ICF had managed to produce the state-of-the-art prototype of the underslung MEMU, which has 9 per cent additional passenger capacity, at Rs 26 crore, only around Rs 1 crore more than the conventional direction propulsion MEMUs are in operation.

ICF has planned to manufacture the underslung MEMU at less than convention MEMU, again by saving money on raw materials.