Sri City, March 3, 2021:- CRRC India, a subsidiary of the Chinese rolling stock and components conglomerate Nanjing Puzhen Co., Ltd., hosted a ground breaking ceremony on Wednesday, marking the start of construction of its metro coach manufacturing plant in Sri City. The event was organised on a hybrid mode (virtual & physical). While the ground breaking was done at their site with the participation of several dignitaries, the senior management of CRRC participate on virtual mode.
K. Raveen Kumar Reddy, IRTS, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) performed the bhoomi pooja in the presence of Mr. Harsh Bjapeyee, Director (Operations), CRRC India, Ravindra Sannareddy, Founder Managing Director, Sri City, Satheesh Prabhu, Additional GM, Chennai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (CMRCL) and Mukhesh Gupta, Manager, HR, CRRC India.
Congratulating the CRRC team Raveen Kumar said,”We are very happy to have the very first unit of CRRC in Andhra Pradesh. With the presence of two major metro rolling-stock manufacturing units, viz., Alstom and CRRC, in Sri City, AP will be supplying 70 to 80 per cent of the requirements of metro projects in the country. Appreciating the quick growth of Sri City on a sustainable mode, Raveen Kumar mentioned,”Sri City is a shining jewel in the industrial crown of AP.” Promising all support and cooperation to CRRC, he said AP government, with a an investor friendly industrial policy, is developing multi-sector or sector specific Industrial clusters at different districts covered under Vizag-Chennai, Bangalore-Chennai and Hyderabad- Bangalore industrial corridors, and APIIDC is equipping them with all required infrastructure on the model of Sri City. Raveen Kumar mentioned that business delegations from Taiwan, China, Japan and Korea have already visited some of those clusters and expressed interest to invest.
Welcoming CRRC to Sri City, Ravindra Sannareddy said,”It is the second groundbreaking event during the new year, and CRRC is the 13th Chinese company in Sri City. We are very happy to have yet another major unit in the automotive sector, which is the world largest producer of metro coaches. Their entry in Sri City assumes greater significance, as it would increase the production capacity of metro coaches in the country.” He thanked Raveen Kumar Reddy for visiting Sri City and taking part in the event.
Addressing the gathering on virtual mode, Zeng Yao Zheng, Chairman, CRRC India said that they had preferred Sri City to located their production unit as it is one of the best and well planed Industrial hubs in India. Thanking the Indian government and AP state government for giving an opportunity to start operations in India, he mentioned thatCRRC India is committed to serve the socio, economic development of the local area, and to actively explore the “Five Locals” model, viz., local operation, localised procurement, local service, local manufacture, and local employment. “With the implementation of this unique model, there will be a positive impact on economic development of the region, we are very eager to serve India with our products,” he added.
Pratap Reddy, General Manager, District Industries Centre, Chittoor, Shuvana Sony, Zonal Manager, APIIC, Jagadish Nayak, DSP, Sri City and a host of invitees from industry and senior managers of CRRC India were also present.
The plant, which will be built on a plot of 45.3 acre in the Domestic Tariff Zone (DTZ) at an initial investment of around Rs. 350 crore, will be commissioned by the year end. The project would generate employment for over 500 people. The plant will manufacture rolling stock (coaches) for metro projects in the country, viz., Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), and Chennai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (CMRCL). The company has already bagged contract of supplying 216 metro cars for BMRCL Project, with over 75% local manufacturing and over 50 per cent local content. CRRC India will endeavour to increase local manufacture to 90% in future projects. Furthermore, by playing
an active role as world factory of CRRC, the Sri City plant will undertake export order to West
Asia and Africa in future.
The China based CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Co., Ltd., is the world’s largest supplier of rail transit equipment with the most complete product lines and leading technologies. Its revenues were USD 37.8 billion, ranking at 266 on the Fortune Global 500 List. R&D investment was EUR1.408 billion, ranking at 96 among the world’s top 2,500 R&D investors. Besides in China, CRRC has a manufacturing presence in USA, Argentina, Malaysia and UK, and are embarking their first manufacturing foray in India with Andhra Pradesh, in Sri City. Scope of business of CRRC India includes manufacture, Maintenance, Sale, Technical Support and other services of railway vehicles and components.