New Delhi: India is preparing to take its indigenously developed Vande Bharat Express trains to the overseas markets, with plans to develop a standard-gauge version of the semi-high-speed train. The move marks a push to position India as a supplier of modern, cost-competitive rail mobility products in the global urban markets, where most railway networks run on standard-gauge tracks.
Rahul Mithal, chairman and managing director of RITES Ltd, an engineering consultancy under the railways ministry, told Mint that the company is working with the Indian Railways on designs for a standard-gauge Vande Bharat platform aimed at the export markets.
“We are working in close coordination with the railways to try and develop the design for standard-gauge Vande Bharat trains and explore its future potential for exports,” Mithal said.
Interest has already come from neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, and also from some in Latin America and Africa, he said. African countries, where RITES has expanded operations in rolling stock and in consultancy, may also have the potential to buy these coaches.
Globally, most rail networks run on standard-gauge track, but Vande Bharat trains, currently manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala and Modern Coach Factory (MCF) in Raebareli, only make the broad-gauge version for the domestic market.
Broad-gauge tracks are wider and built for heavy long-distance stability, while standard gauge ones are the narrower global norm optimized for urban metros and high-speed rail.
The standard-gauge Vande Bharat coach is now at an initial stage of design development, and once the designs are approved and standardized, its production would start depending on export orders, said Mithal.
RITES has pitched for the export of Vande Bharat trains to a number of countries and has advised the Railways to provide at least one rake for testing in each of these potential export markets, so that the product generates interest for conversion into firm long-term sale orders.
An Indian Railways official, on the condition of anonymity, said teams from neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal had visited India “to get a look and feel” of these modern semi-fast trains. "We will look for exports of these trains once the domestic demand is reasonably serviced,” the official said.
The official said initially even the Vande Bharat broad-gauge trains could be exported to these countries before a new product is designed and rolled out.
Indian Railways manufactures these trains at multiple hubs and is targeting a massive national rollout. It aims to deploy 800 trainsets by 2030 and reach 4,500 trains by 2047, expanding from chaircars to overnight sleeper variants.
In early May, MCF at Raebareli rolled out the 100th Vande Bharat train, marking a milestone in the journey that started in 2019 with only two such 16-coach, fully air-conditioned train set designed for a maximum speed of 160km per hour. The latest Vande Bharat trains have a maximum speed of 180km per hour.
Vande Bharat trains are touted as state-of-the art make in India products with the potential to become a global brand.
Apart from technological strength, the country’s first semi-high-speed trains are also cost-competitive, with the manufacturing of a 16-coach Vande Bharat train costing around ₹130-150 crore.
“The cost advantage of Vande Bharat trains could make it a strong contender in any country that is looking at strengthening its intercity travel infrastructure,” said the railway official quoted above.
Queries emailed to Indian Railways remained unanswered until press time.
Rail export push
On other rolling stock exports, Mithal said RITES had completed Mozambique’s order for 10 locomotives and will now start supplying to Bangladesh, from where it has orders for 200 rail coaches. The prototype for the first lot of 20 coaches already has Dhaka’s approval.
“We are going on the run rate of getting at least one export order in each quarter, and in this line, we have also received orders from five more locomotives from Mozambique," Mithal said. “In addition, we would also soon begin supplying the two in-service diesel engines that have been converted from broad to cape gauge for exports in the African markets. The approval of these two locomotives will provide us with an expanded market for such products in Africa.”
RITES ended fiscal year 2026 (FY26) with a record order book of ₹9,416 crore, out of which about ₹2,100 crore is export orders, with ₹1,750 crore coming from rolling stock exports. Mithal said RITES aims to boost the company’s revenues to record levels in FY27, while increasing its order book to over ₹10,000 crore. The order book was at ₹9,416 crore at the end of FY26, while revenue was ₹2,426 crore.