8th International Railway Equipment Exhibition 2009
Metro, rail projects: Engine of growth
Thomex.com
The successful completion of 8th International Railway Equipment Exhibition, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, had some unique features. One of the distinguishing features of the show was that it catered to only one master client i.e. Indian Railways. This invariably made the show more focussed and targeted. Secondly, the exhibition had higher percentage of genuine visitors, than other shows.The show, which was organised from August 24-26, turned out to be quite effective in bringing together industries related to railways under one roof, and generating some good business for the exhibitors. Organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in association with Indian Railways, it had participation from some 12 countries including the US, the UK, Germany, France, China, Spain, Switzerland etc.The show was jointly inaugurated by Dr Sam Pitroda, Praveen Kumar, member (Mechanical), Rakesh Chopra, member (engineering) Railway Board. The show also had a parallel international conference on 'Development of Indian Railways: Opportunities and Challenges' and was attended by some 300 delegates. The speakers at the conference covered wide array of subjects including Railway's initiative at adopting state-of-the-art technology in Rolling Stock, Security and Disaster Management issues and development of infrastructure - Tracks and Track Side equipment. The event also became an occasion to announce Patil Rail bagging the award for the first high speed ballastless track in India. Under the agreement Patil Rail Infrastructure will implement RHEDA 2000 Ballestless Track between New Delhi and Indira Gandhi International Airport for DMRC. Patil Rail is developing this track in collaboration with RailOne AG, Germany who is known for designing and implementing high speed rail track solution in Europe. The Company is also in the process of installing RHEDA Ballastless Track at Jammu-Kashmir Railway line.Bombardier Transportation while showcasing its cutting-edge rail technology and products, also announced the manufacturing possibilities in India. In fact, Vadodara in Gujarat has become home to their new railway vehicle manufacturing site and for the propulsion systems manufacturing facility and software development centre for signalling and traction application.The other highlight of the show was Electro Motive celebrating 50 years of its association with the Indian Railways. The association started, way back in 1959, when Electro Motive and Indian Railways initiated a contract to deliver 127 diesel locomotives.The show was a launching pad for Bayer Material Science to introduce DURFLEX Technology for railway tracks for a smooth and comfortable ride. This new technology has been successfully tested on a trial track in Germany. The significant advantages of the new technology are that it reduces the vibration by 40% and the noise levels up to 5dB. It also increases the lateral resistance by about eight times.Showcasing its products at the show, Siemens spoke about its new state-of-the-art bogie manufacturing facility at Aurangabad. The fabrication facility has already started and the complete bogie manufacturing and assembly will start by the end of 2009. The facility has a capacity of producing 800 bogies per annum which is upgraded to 1400 bogies per annum.Some of the exhibitors like Integral Coach Factory showcased their requirement of vendor development in areas like FRP Windows/Items, Aluminium Fabrication Items, EP Brakes, Pu Foam seats, LHB Windows etc.The response to the show, in terms of visitors and business, was encouraging. While talking about his participation, RB Mathur of Patil Rail Infrastructure said that the response was in line with their expectations. "We received more than 150 visitors each day, which is a good number. As our products are railway-centric, we don't expect people to buy it but the show surely gave good exposure to the company."Mathur further told that the meltdown had little impact on his business. "Most of the railway projects are confirmed and are drawn for either one year or five years. The slowdown had little impact as we already have our orders in hand and are supplying products and services to the Railways," he said.Jeevan Krishna of Kaynes Technology who received some 15-20 visitors every day was quite satisfied with the response he received at the show. "We are the only exhibitor in PCB assembling segment in the show. Initially we thought we may not receive good response but it turned out to be contrary. In fact, the first two days were quite good in terms of response. The third day was lukewarm," he observed.Likewise, Deepak Kumar Sharma of Electro Motive, a major exhibitor at the show, said the motive of his company's participation was not the sale enquiry but to meet other industry people and create awareness about the products. "Indian Railway is our only customer and we remain in constant touch with them. The exhibition is a place to look for new suppliers," said Sharma.A similar reaction came from VK Jain of NBC Bearings who was quite satisfied with the response he received at the exhibition. "This is a good platform for industries supplying products and services to Railways. We have been receiving very good response from other industries and have received some orders from overseas," Jain said adding, "We are looking forward to participate in the next show with some new products to showcase.” |
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