Former Rajya Sabha member K. Chandran Pillai has alleged that the Indian Railways are conspiring to overlook the Kalamassery unit of HMT by not utilising the surface wheel lathe it developed in 2022.
The wheel lathe had been developed under the Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. However, the Railways were deliberately ignoring it when procuring new lathes, he said here on Wednesday (March 11, 2025).
The Railways invited bids for the supply of surface wheel lathes for the first time since 2022 in December 2024 and February 2025. However, the Railways had adopted a stance in its bid invitation to ignore and exclude the HMT unit here by incorporating a condition in the tender that only companies that had supplied at least two surface wheel lathes could participate, Mr. Pillai claimed.
The Railways had been procuring surface wheel lathes from a private company. However, it was at their instance that the HMT Kalamassery unit developed the equipment under the Atmanirbhar programme of the Union government. The unit undertook its own research to create a high-power surface wheel lathe and produced it at half the cost of what had been paid earlier, he said.
“However, the Railways are now sabotaging efforts to ensure quality and maintain competitiveness in the market. The condition introduced in the bids is aimed at favouring the private company. The stringent requirement is intended to bypass the HMT unit,” Mr. Pillai alleged.
He added that the stance taken by the Railways should be closely examined by the Ministry of Steel and Heavy Industries and the Railway Minister. He also urged the State government and the Industries department to intervene in the matter.
Published – March 13, 2025 12:11 am IST