Pvt railway coach factory to come up in state

HYDERABAD: A major investment is coming to state in the form of a railway coach factory. The state government will sign a memorandum of understanding in this regard on October 27.  
The state government will sign an MoU with two firms on October 27 for setting up a railway coach factory in the private sector. After the Centre failed to honour its commitment to set up a railway coach factory, the state government tried for a coach factory in the private sector and succeeded.

The Centre assured in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 to set up a rail coach factory at Kazipet. Even after repeated requests by the state government in last three years, the Centre did not come forward to set up the coach factory. In this backdrop, the state tried on its own to get a coach factory and succeeded.

Speaking with Express on Tuesday, Jayesh Ranjan, principal secretary (industries), said,  “We will sign an MoU on the coach factory on October 27.” However, he refused to disclose further on the project and merely said that industries minister KT Rama Rao would make the big announcement on it in a couple of days. The location of the railway coach factory, the investment to be made and other finer details are kept secret by the principal secretary. According to sources,  two firms, one foreign and another Indian, will jointly set up the factory. 

When the factory takes shape, it will not only attract huge investments to the state but also provide huge direct and indirect employment. Besides, the state government will get huge revenues in the form of taxes. As the Centre assured to set up the coach factory at Kazipet, the state may consider another location for the private coach factory, the sources said.