Titagarh Rail Systems

Titagarh Rail Systems Limited, formerly known as Titagarh Wagons Limited, is an Indian rolling stock manufacturer in the private sector. Established in 1984 as a rolling stock foundry unit, the company's headquarters are situated in Kolkata, West Bengal. Titagarh is publicly traded on both the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).

In 1997, the founder decided to add a bit more value to his propositions. He ventured into making entire wagons that would be used for freight, before that it used to manufacture railway components. The core operations of the company encompass providing freight wagons, semi high-speed trains, metros, transit and propulsion systems, and passenger coaches for the Indian Railways and for the export markets as well. In addition to the design, manufacture & supply of 102 metro coaches for the Pune Metro and the largest ever order for procurement of 24,177 wagons which are under execution, the company has been awarded prestigious orders by the Indian Railways for the manufacture and maintenance of Vande Bharat Trains and Wheels for the same under the Atma Nirbhar and Make in India initiatives of the Government of India and is a significant enabler for railway infrastructure of the country. Beyond its substantial engagement in the railway sector, Titagarh holds business interests in shipbuilding, bridges, and defence.

Overview

Context

The founder of Titagarh Rail Systems, Jagadish Prasad Chowdhary, commenced his professional journey as an account assistant at a tea estate in Darjeeling, West Bengal. Subsequently, he relocated to Calcutta (now Kolkata) and assumed the role of an accountant at a steel casting company that supplied materials to the Indian Railways. Chowdhary eventually assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the steel castings company.

In the year 1982, Chowdhary as an entrepreneur acquired the defunct foundry division of the government-owned Britannia Engineering then under liquidation, situated in Titagarh, Barrackpore, West Bengal. Renaming the enterprise as Titagarh Steels Limited (TSL), he commenced  production of railway casting components, specifically bogies and couplers & crossings and turned around the operations of the Foundry in a record time. In 1994, Chowdhary was invited to present a rehabilitation plan for the two Paper Mills of the then sick Titagarh Paper Mills Company Limited which were vested in TSL by a Scheme of Rehabilitation by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). Subsequently, these Paper Mills were demerged into two separate companies through a Scheme of Arrangement sanctioned by the Hon’ble High Court, Calcutta.

Development

Chowdhary founded Titagarh Wagons Limited on 3 July 1997 to manufacture railway wagons. The company started out with an annual production capacity of 180 wagons.

In July 2010, Titagarh Wagons purchased the French rail wagon maker Arbel Fauvet Rail (AFR) for €15 million (first overseas acquisition), which had gone into receivership in February 2009. Titagarh Wagons turned around AFR and with the subsidiary's revenue rising from in 2010–11 to in 2011–12, and the employee headcount almost doubling from 85 to 150. A French commercial court ordered the liquidation of AFR in July 2019. The next month, Titagarh announced that it would exit from AFR. Vice-chairman and managing director, Umesh Chowdhary, stated that AFR had been making losses of €4–5 million a year for the past three years due to general economic factors, and would have required more capital to reach profitability. Titagarh Wagons had invested in AFR since acquiring the company.

Titagarh Wagons acquired Corporated Shipyard in 2012 and merged it in Titagarh Marines to manufacture ships for the Indian Navy. Corporated Shipyard won its first defence contract in 2017.

In 2015, Titagarh Wagons acquired the brand name and know-how of French cast steel bogie manufacturer Sambre et Meuse. On 16 July 2015, Titagarh acquired a 90% stake in Italian rail equipment firm Firema Trasporti for an estimated million. The remaining 10% stake was held by Italian company Adler Plastics SpA. In June 2017, Titagarh announced that it had acquired the 10% stake from Adler Plastics for an undisclosed amount. The company was subsequently renamed as Titagarh Firema SpA. Titagarh Firema designs metro rail coaches and manufactures them at its factories at Caserta, Spello and Tito.

In May 2016, Titagarh Wagons formed a 50/50 joint venture with French Matiere SAS to manufacture metallic and modular bridges. Titagarh Wagons acquired Matiere's stake in July 2020, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary.

In 2019, Titagarh Firema was awarded the contract to supply 102 aluminium bodied metro rail coaches for the Pune Metro by Maha Metro. While 3 of the total 34 rakes would be manufactured at the Firema plant in Italy, the remaining 31 trainsets would be manufactured at TWL's facility in Uttarpara.

In April 2021, the company secured a contract to supply rolling stock for the Ahmedabad Metro.

In February 2024, the company secured a contract for supplying 250 specialized wagons to the Ministry of Defence.

In March 2024, the company secured a contract for supplying 4463 BOSM Wagons to the Ministry of Railways.

Financials

Titagarh Rail Systems Limited reported a total income of during the financial year ended 31 March 2023 as compared to during the financial year ended 31 March 2022. The company posted a net profit of for the financial year ended 31 March 2023 as against a loss of for the financial year ended 31 March 2022.

Subsidiaries

* Cimmco Limited (India)
* Titagarh Firema SpA (Italy)
* Titagarh Marine (India)
* Matiere Titagarh Bridges(India)

Former subsidiaries

* Arbel Fauvet Rail (AFR)

Joint ventures

* Titagarh Rail Systems Limited– Ramkrishna Forgings JV: Ramkrishna Forgings and Titagarh Wagons consortium emerged as the lowest bidder for manufacturing and supply of approximately 1.6 million forged wheel discs for different rolling stocks of Indian Railways over a period of 20 years at about 80,000 wheels per annum. The contract is worth . The manufacturing facility for fulfilment of this order is to be the second largest in Asia, with an annual production capacity of more than 200,000 wheels.
* Titagarh Rail Systems Limited– BHEL JV: BHEL-Titagarh Wagons Ltd. consortium won the order for 80 Vande Bharat Trains in one of the biggest railway tenders for manufacturing- cum-maintenance of Vande Bharat Trains. Total order value for the consortium is estimated to be approximately . It comprised the supply of train sets for and balance amount is to be for the maintenance of the same for a period of 35 years.
* Titagarh Rail Systems Limited– CRRC JV: CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Co Ltd a subsidiary of CRRC bagged the contract from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd to supply 216 metro cars in December 2019. The order was worth . The contract mandated that the Chinese company should either set up a factory in India or tie-up with an Indian company to manufacture 90% of the car. Following its inability to acquire land to set up a manufacturing base on its own, CRRC entered into a tie-up with Titagarh Wagons for the manufacturing and supply of 34 train sets from TWL's facility in Uttarpara.

Products and services

* Railway freight: Rolling stock, components (bogies, couplers, locomotive shells, gears);
* Railway transit: Rolling stock (electric locomotives, EMU trainsets, DEMU trainsets, metros, light rail transports, body shells, bogies, propulsion & electrical equipment);
* Shipbuilding: Coastal research vessels, naval vessels, passenger ships, tugs, inland vessels;
* Other engineering services: Bailey bridges, defence

See also

* Rail transport in India

References

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Coach and wagon manufacturers of India
Companies based in Kolkata
Indian companies established in 1997
Shipbuilding companies of India
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1997
1997 establishments in West Bengal
Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India
Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange
Freight wagons manufacturers