In the last three years and FY 21-22 (Q1), the demand for the following types of new rails has been made by the Indian Railways with SAIL:-

 

1. R-260 UIC 60 profile rail instead of Grade 880.
2. 60E1 profile instead of UIC 60 profile.
3. 1175 HT rails (Heat Treated rails).
4. 260 meter long rail panel.

 

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has met the requirement of Indian Railways (IR) in respect of R-260 Grade rail in lieu of Grade 880, 60E1 profile rail in lieu of UIC 60 profile and 260 meter long rail panels comprising bulk of the supplies. The details of supply of new rails to Indian Railways vis-a-vis demand during last three years and FY 21-22 (Q1) is as follows:-

(Quantity in Tonnes)

Sl No.	Type of New  Rail	2018-19		2019-20		2020-21		2021-22
		Demand	Supply	Demand	Supply	Demand	Supply	Demand	Supply (Q1)
1.	R-260 UIC 60 profile	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	12233	12221	NIL	NIL
2.	R260 60E1 profile	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	NIL	939313	141689
3.	1175 HT Grade	NIL	NIL	200000*	NIL	181728	NIL	222353	NIL
4.	260 meter long rail panel	Not Specified	442239	Not Specified	632643	Not Specified	735103	783903**	137710***

*        The Bulk Order was modified on 20-8-2019 to include 200000T of 1175HT grade   for the year FY 19-20.

**      Demand is included in the quantity shown in R-260 60E1 profile for 2021-22.

***    Includes supply to the extent of 112709 Tonnes R-260 60E1 profile.

 

To meet the emerging requirement of Indian Railways, SAIL undertook Modernization and Expansion (MODEX) of Bhilai Steel Plant which includes installation of 1.2 MTPA capacity Universal Rail Mill (URM). The URM in Bhilai Steel Plant has been established to enhance the manufacturing capabilities of rails to cope up with increasing demands of Railways. To fulfill the demand of 1175 HT rails by Indian Railways, Hot commissioning trial of heat treatment facility for heat treated rails started by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) during the month of March’21.

           

This information was given by the Union Minister for Steel Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

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