Kazipet, Telangana, will soon be home to India's second railway manufacturing unit. On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the unit. Arun Kumar Jain, general manager of South Central Railway (SCR), stated on Thursday that the unit would produce 1,200 waggons in the first year. This will be increased to 2,400 waggons in the second year.

While Braithwaite & Co, a public-sector undertaking based in Kolkata, is India's first railway manufacturing unit, the one in Kazipet will be the first to be established by the railways.

Jain said that initially, a wagon repair workshop with a capacity to overhaul 200 wagons every month was sanctioned at Kazipet. It was entrusted to Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL). Later, it was decided to convert it into a wagon manufacturing unit, keeping in mind the increased demand for wagons and pressure from various quarters to have a manufacturing unit to promote local industry. "The Rs 521 manufacturing unit will produce various types of rolling stock," Jain added.

"The unit will spur the ecosystem of new industrial development in the Hanumakonda region," Jain said. Spanning 160 acres, the unit will have scope for the manufacturing capacity of both wagons and rolling stock to be scaled up further. "We always had a shortage of wagons, and this will certainly help achieve the target of scaling freight transportation to 3,000 million tonnes in the country. The unit also stands at a strategic location with good rail connectivity and access to all directions which will enable efficient delivery of orders," the SCR general manager added.