PATIALA: Delays in procurement of raw material to manufacture electric locomotive engines has slowed the work at Diesel Locomotive Modernisation Works (DLMW) in
Patiala. Result? The employees here are sitting idle at a time when the unit has a target of manufacturing 60 engines a year.
The company that generally manufactures diesel engines in now trying to make strides by manufacturing electric engines. "For this, the government provided us raw material for two electric engines. It wanted to see if we can deliver the same or not. After we proved that we can, we were given an authorisation letter to manufacture electric locomotive engines. The issue as of now is procurement of raw material, which has slowed down our production work," said Awadesh Singh, secretary, DLMW Patiala.
Meanwhile, the union leaders here claim that the workforce here was sitting idle for the last one month. "This could further delay the production. The target of manufacturing 60 electrical locomotives in a year seems a distant dream," the union leaders said.
Indian Railways have a total of eight production, two in Punjab region, units across the nation. The Patiala unit manufacturers Diesel locomotive engines and components. With around 3,700 employees DLMW Patiala has till date been producing around 120 diesel locomotives every year.