Locomotive manufacturing contract to Siemens: Congress demands parliamentary panel probe

New Delhi: The Congress expressed strong concern over fairness and transparency in awarding the locomotive manufacturing contract to Siemens, worth Rs 26,000 crore.

The party demanded immediate clarity from the Government of India and called for a parliamentary inquiry into the Siemens contract.

The party also flagged a conflict of interest since the current Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, at one time, had worked for Siemens and GE.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here today, former MP Brijendra Singh raised several questions seeking answers from the government.

“Why were the details of the bidders not disclosed during the bidding process?” he asked, adding, “Were other potential bidders given a fair chance?”

He asked: "Why was India, after spending Rs 26,000 crore, still unable to manufacture critical components of its locomotives at Dahod, as initially promised?"

“If the goal was to build India’s manufacturing capability, why are Indian Railways left with only final assembly, while Siemens retains control over critical technology and manufacturing?” he noted, asking, “Why did the agreement with Siemens only allow assembly and testing at the Dahod facility? Why was the full manufacturing process not included as originally planned?”

Maintaining that the whole episode reflected a betrayal of the promise made to the people of India, and particularly to those in Gujarat, he pointed out, when the contract was announced in December 2022, the government affirmed that the locomotives would be manufactured at the factory of Indian Railways in Dahod.

Referring to the massive decline in the manufacturing growth during the BJP regime, Singh noted that while the average manufacturing growth in the country stood at 7.4% during 2004–2014, it has slowed down significantly to 3.15% between 2014 and 2024.

Quoting recent statements by Siemens clearly indicating that only final assembly, testing, and commissioning are being done at the factory in Dahod, he said, the rest of the critical components, including the engine systems and power converters, are being produced at factories owned by Siemens in Nashik, Aurangabad, and Mumbai. This goes against the government's original claim that Dahod would be turned into a full-fledged manufacturing site, he observed, adding, it not only deprives Indian Railways of critical technical knowledge, but also reduces Indian engineers to technicians performing basic assembly. “For a project of such financial and strategic scale, this is a surrender”, he remarked.

Noting that questions have been raised around the bidding process as well, he pointed out, the Ministry of Railways never disclosed the details of the competing bidders, nor did it publish any comparative evaluations. “The public has no way of knowing whether companies like Alstom or Bombardier were given a fair opportunity or not”, he said.

Flagging conflict of interest in awarding the contract to Siemens, Singh observed, what sounds more concerning is that the current Union Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has previously served as Vice President of Siemens India and was also employed by both Siemens and GE Transportation, companies which have vested interests in India's railway sector.

This raises a direct question of conflict of interest, especially since Siemens secured its largest-ever contract in India under his tenure as Railway Minister, he observed, while asking, “Is this a coincidence, or a clear case of conflict of interest?”

Singh observed that the story of Dahod highlights a broader pattern under this government, where headlines are prioritised over outcomes, and where foreign corporations are favoured at the cost of domestic capacity-building. “This is not 'Make in India'. This is 'Assemble in India', under foreign control”, he remarked, adding, “Indian Railways, once a symbol of nation-building, is being systematically reduced to a contracting agency”.