RITES eyes global market for refurbished Indian Railways diesel locomotives

State-run railway engineering and consultancy firm RITES Ltd is preparing to open a much larger export market for Indian Railways’ surplus diesel locomotives by developing a standard-gauge version of the country’s in-service locomotives. The move could pave the way for sales across Australia, Europe, the Americas and parts of Africa, said a senior official aware of the matter.

The initiative comes on the back of RITES’s successful development of Cape gauge variants of Indian Railways’ broad-gauge diesel locomotives for South Africa, demonstrating that locomotives nearing the end of their domestic utility can be refurbished and adapted for overseas markets instead of being retired.

RITES chairman and managing director Rahul Mithal told Mint in an interview that the company, working closely with Indian Railways, is now developing a prototype of a standard-gauge version of the in-service diesel locomotive for an Australian customer. The prototype is expected to be ready shortly for testing and validation.

Unlike India, which operates on the 1,676-mm broad gauge, most railway networks around the world use the 1,435-mm standard gauge. This has historically prevented Indian Railways’ locomotives from being exported without extensive modification.

The ongoing project seeks to overcome that hurdle by redesigning the locomotive’s running gear while retaining the proven powertrain and other critical systems. “Once the prototype is approved by the customer, we see significant opportunities to offer these locomotives in other standard-gauge markets,” Mithal said, noting that once validated in Australia, the design can be replicated for other customers with relatively few modifications. Standard gauge is the most widely used railway configuration globally, deployed across Europe, the Americas, East Asia, and several African nations.

Surplus fleet & monetization strategy

The project marks the next phase of RITES’s strategy to monetize Indian Railways’ surplus diesel fleet at a time when the national transporter is aggressively electrifying its network. As electrification expands, hundreds of diesel locomotives that still have substantial operational life are expected to become available for redeployment.

According to official estimates, Indian Railways has more than 10,000 electric and 5,000 diesel locomotives in its network. According to Mithal, many of these diesel locomotives still have another 10-15 years of useful service left, making them attractive for freight operators, mining companies and industrial users that continue to depend on diesel traction.

“The biggest demand is for freight movement, particularly transportation of minerals from mines to ports and industrial locations. Several countries continue to rely on diesel locomotives for such operations,” Mithal said.

Besides, converting or upgrading an existing diesel locomotive costs about two-thirds the price of a new one, making it an economical choice for freight and industrial customers. The railways stands to benefit from turning these spare diesel units into an export revenue stream, while continuing to enhance its domestic rail network through electrification and safety upgrades.

Queries emailed to the railway ministry remained unanswered at the time of publishing.

Cape gauge foundation

This standard-gauge expansion builds directly on RITES’s earlier success in developing Cape Gauge versions of Indian Railways diesel locomotives. Cape gauge, measuring 1,067 mm, is used in more than a dozen African countries.

The company has already secured contracts from South African customers for the supply of refurbished Cape gauge locomotives after converting Indian Railways’ in-service engines. Those locomotives are primarily being deployed by mineral and steel companies for freight operations. Prototypes of two such locomotives are ready and RITES plans to ship them to buyers in the next month or two.

The approval of the Cape gauge locomotives has significantly expanded RITES’s opportunities in Africa, where many neighbouring countries operate similar railway systems. “We have demonstrated that Indian Railways’ diesel locomotives can be successfully converted for overseas requirements. The experience gained from the Cape gauge programme is now helping us move towards the much larger standard-gauge market,” Mithal said.

Expanding global footprint

Beyond exporting reconditioned diesel locomotives, RITES has also secured an order to supply nine new 4,000-hp diesel locomotives to South Africa. At the same time, the company is expanding its rolling stock business globally and developing a standard-gauge export variant of the semi-high-speed Vande Bharat train.

The company has also completed deliveries of locomotives to Mozambique and has secured additional locomotive orders from the African nation. It is also preparing to begin supplies of railway coaches to Bangladesh in a week, after receiving approval for the prototype of the first batch.

Mithal said rolling stock exports remain a key growth engine for the company, with RITES targeting at least one export order every quarter while expanding into new markets. The company’s record export order pipeline reflects that strategy: RITES closed FY26 with an all-time high order book of ₹9,416 crore, of which nearly ₹2,100 crore comprised export orders. Rolling stock accounts for the bulk of the overseas business.