Titagarh Wagons Limited is an Indian shipbuilder, defense, railway wagon manufacturer headquartered in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. The company manufactures coaches for the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

bailey bridges A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. ...

, and mining equipment. A subsidiary, Titagarh Marines, operates in the

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

industry. Titagarh posseses the Defence Industrial licence allowing them to manufacture the Defence products such as Mine clearing systems, Military Trailers, CBRNe Equipment, Armouring solutions as well as Naval Vessels & Warships.

History

Titagarh Wagons' founder Jagadish Prasad Chowdhary began his career working as an account assistant at the Silcoorie tea estate in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

, West Bengal. He later moved to Calcutta (now

) to work as an accountant for Bhartia Electric Steel Co. (BESCO), a steel casting company, that supplied the

. Chowdhary rose within the ranks of the company to eventually become

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of BESCO. In 1982, Chowdhary purchased the closed foundry division of state-owned Britania Engineering, located at

Titagarh Titagarh is a city and a municipality of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is close to Kolkata and also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Geography Location Titaga ...

. He renamed the business as Titagarh Steels and began manufacturing railway castings such as

bogies A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

and

couplers Coupler may refer to: Engineering Mechanical * Railway coupler, a mechanism for connecting rolling stock in a train device ** Janney coupler ** SA3 coupler ** Scharfenberg coupler for multiple unit passenger cars * Quick coupler, used in constru ...

. Chowdhary purchased Titagarh Paper through the

Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) was a development finance institution under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India, part of the Department of Financial Services of the Ministry of Finance. Set up ...

(BIFR) in 1994. However, the operation was a failure and was shut down after the government abolished import duties on paper rendering the company's business unsustainable. Meanwhile, Titagarh Steels began producing crossing components for railways. Chowdhary founded Titagarh Wagons Limited on 3 July 1997 to manufacture railway wagons. The company started out with an annual production capacity of 180 wagons. In 2015, Titagarh Wagons acquired the brand name and

know-how Know-how (or knowhow, or procedural knowledge) is a term for practical knowledge on how to accomplish something, as opposed to "know-what" (facts), "know-why" (science), or "know-who" (communication). It is also often referred to as street smart ...

of French cast steel bogie manufacturer Sambre et Meuse. On 16 July 2015, Titagarh acquired a 90% stake in Italian rail equipment firm Firema Trasporti for an estimated EUR 25 million. The remaining 10% stake was held by Italian company Adler Plastics SpA. In June 2017, Titagarh announced that it had acquired the 10% stake from Adler Plastics for an undisclosed amount. The company was subsequently renamed as Titagarh Firema SpA. Titagarh Firema designs metro rail coaches and manufactures them at its factories at

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...

Spello Spello (in Antiquity: Hispellum) is an ancient town and ''comune'' (township) of Italy, in the province of Perugia in eastern-central Umbria, on the lower southern flank of Mt. Subasio. It is 6 km (4 mi) NNW of Foligno and 10 km (6 ...

and

Tito Tito may refer to: People Mononyms * Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman * Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journ ...

. In 2019, Titagarh Firema was awarded the contract to supply 102 aluminium bodied metro rail coaches for the

Pune Metro Pune Metro is a mass rapid transit system serving the city of Pune, India. The system comprises 3 lines with a combined length of 54.58 km, of which 12 km on two lines are operational as of March 2022. The 16.59-km Purple line from PCMC B ...

Mahametro Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha Metro) is 50:50 Joint Venture company of Government of India & Government of Maharashtra headquartered in Nagpur, India. The existing ''Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited (NMRCL)'' was rec ...

. While 3 of the total 34 rakes would be manufactured at the Firema plant in Italy, the remaining 31 trainsets would be manufactured at TWL's facility in

Uttarpara Uttarpara or Uttarpara Kotrung is a city and a municipality of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA). Uttarpara is located at , within 10 k ...

. In March 2020, it was reported that Titagarh had suspended plan operations in Italy due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Subsidiaries

* Cimmco Limited (India) * Titagarh

Firema Titagarh Wagons Limited is an Indian shipbuilder, defense, railway wagon manufacturer headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. The company manufactures coaches for the Indian Railways, bailey bridges, and mining equipment. A subsidiary, Titagarh M ...

SpA (Italy)

Titagarh Marine

The company acquired

-based Corporated Shipyard in 2012, merging it with its subsidiary Titagarh Marines to manufacture ships for the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

, and won its first defence contract in 2017.

Matiere Titagarh Bridges

Titagarh Wagons established a 50:50 joint venture with French company Matiere SAS called Matiere Titagarh Bridges Private Ltd (MTBPL) to manufacture metallic and modular bridges in May 2016. Titagarh acquired Matiere's stake in the joint venture in July 2020, making MTBPL a wholly-owned subsidiary of Titagarh.

Former subsidiaries

Arbel Fauvet Rail

Titagarh Wagons made its first overseas acquisition in July 2010 by purchasing French rail wagon maker IGF Industries-Arbel Fauvet Rail (AFR) for EUR 15 million, which had gone into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

in February 2009. Titagarh Wagons completed a successful turnaround of Arbel Fauvet Rail with the subsidiary's revenue rising from in 2010-11 to in 2011-12, and the employee headcount almost doubling from 85 to 150. A French commercial court ordered the

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

of AFR in July 2019. The next month, Titagarh announced that it would exit from AFR. Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Umesh Chowdhary, stated that AFR had been making losses of 4-5 million euros a year for the past three years due to general economic factors, and would have required more capital to reach profitability. Titagarh Wagons had invested in AFR since acquiring the company.

Products and services

Railway freight

* Rolling stock * Components ** Bogies ** Couplers ** Locomotive shells ** Gears

Railway transit

* Rolling stock ** Electric locomotives **

EMU The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus ''Dromaius''. The emu' ...

trainsets **

DEMU A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

trainsets ** Metros ** Light rail transports ** Body shells ** Bogies ** Propulsion & electrical equipment

Shipbuilding

* Coastal research vessels * Naval vessels * Passenger ships * Tugs * Inland vessels

Other engineering services

* Bailey bridges * Defence

References

External links

* {{official, https://titagarh.in Coach and wagon manufacturers of India Companies based in Kolkata Indian companies established in 1997 Shipbuilding companies of India Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1997 1997 establishments in West Bengal Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange Freight wagons manufacturers