DSK Legal has successfully advised and assisted the Railway Board, Ministry of Railways in a ₹26,000 crore ($3.25 billion) project, relating to supply and maintenance of electric locomotives for freight movement in India, to be executed by global engineering and technology firm Siemens in collaboration with the Indian Railways.

DSK Legal advised and assisted the Ministry of Railways on all aspects of the Project, including assisting in the bidding process; drafting, finalizing and legal vetting of the bid documents and the manufacturing cum maintenance agreement; assisting in the evaluation, risk assessment, negotiation and contract finalization and execution of the agreement with Siemens.

Siemens has signed a long-term agreement with the Railway Board, Ministry of Railways for ‘Manufacturing and Supply of 1200 Electric Locomotives of 9000 hp, over a period of 11 (eleven) years at Rolling Stock Workshop, Dahod and Maintenance of the said Locomotives at nominated Government Depots of the Indian Railways’.  Under the long-term agreement, Siemens will manufacture and deliver 1,200 electric locomotives of 9000 horse power (HP) to the Government, which shall be assembled in the Indian Railways factory at Dahod, and thereafter undertake maintenance of the locomotives for 35 years at nominated Government depots.

This project is being undertaken by the Ministry of Railways under the aegis of the ‘Make in India’ initiative under ‘Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat’ mission of the Government of India. The electric locomotives will be equipped with state of the art technology and will help in capacity augmentation of freight trains in India, in addition to improving operational efficiency, thereby bringing India at par with global standards. This is a prestigious high-stake project that aims to promote and ensure self-reliance in railway manufacturing and foster technology upgradation by bringing the latest technology and know-how to the railway sector. Being a first of its kind, under this Project Siemens will have no capital expenditure liability, since the locomotives will be manufactured in a factory owned by the Indian Railways and thereafter maintained in government maintenance units, while Siemens will bring in the technology required to manufacture the 9000 hp engines, upgrade the government manufacturing and maintenance units and provide necessary supervision.

The implementation of the Project will facilitate and boost railway manufacturing in India, generate revenue and increase employment. The transaction involved complex issues regarding the commercial arrangement, risk allocation, risk assessment and advising on mitigation strategies.

The team representing DSK Legal, comprised of Mr. Ajay Shaw (Partner) as the lead transaction advisor, along with Ms. Rimali Batra (Associate Partner) and Ms. Anisha Bhattacharya, (Senior Associate).