Titagarh Wagons' Italy unit wins big order

Titagarh Wagons Ltd (TWL) said that the company in a consortium with Hitachi Rail, has bagged a Euro 110 million order in Italy to supply double decker trains to Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM). Titagarh Firema Adler (TFA), Titagarh's Italian subsidiary, has been assigned about 60 per cent, or Euro 65 million (about Rs 475 crore), of the total value of the order for supplying complete trains from its plant in Caserta (Italy), whereas the balance trains will be supplied by Hitachi Rail. These double decker trains will be used to connect Milano with various cities, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The train sets will be delivered to FNM over time and completed by by April 2017. Titagarh Wagons had formed Titagarh Firema Adler after buying the business of Italy-based Firema Trasporti in July last year. TFA has design and production facilities and owns advanced technologies for manufacturing metro coaches and high speed regional/intercity trains in Europe. "This is a great development as it marks acceptance by the market to place new orders to our Italian acquisition," said Umesh Chowdhary, vice chairman and managing director, Titagarh Group. With the new train order, Titagarh's total order book stands at about Rs 2800 crore. This includes an order for export of wagons by TWL to African region valued at $ 8 million with technology and designs provided by TWA - Titagarh's subsidiary in France. Meanwhile, Titagarh is reportedly planning to invest in its Uttarpara (West Bengal) unit to start manufacturing metro coaches in India under the Make in India initiative. Meanwhile, shares of the company closed trading at Rs 134.50 apiece, down 4.58 per cent from the previous close on BSE.