Overview
- The Congress has demanded a parliamentary inquiry into the ₹26,000 crore contract, accusing the government of favouring Siemens and lacking transparency.
- It pointed to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s past role as a vice president at Siemens India as evidence of a potential conflict of interest.
- The Railway Ministry responded that independent technical and financial teams evaluated bids from Siemens and Alstom and awarded the contract to the lowest bidder.
- Officials stated that about 89% of locomotive components are produced domestically and that Dahod will handle final assembly while critical parts come from Siemens facilities in Maharashtra.
- The ministry said the locomotives will be maintained at depots in Visakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur, and Pune to bolster India’s railway manufacturing ecosystem.