Titagarh Rail Systems

Titagarh Rail Systems Limited is an Indian rolling stock manufacturer. Established in 1984 as a rolling stock foundry unit, the company's headquarters are situated in Kolkata, West Bengal. Titagarh is publicly traded on both the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).
In 1997, the founder decided to add a bit more value to his propositions. He ventured into making entire wagons that would be used for freight, before that it used to manufacture railway components. The core operations of the company encompass providing freight wagons, semi high-speed trains, metros, transit and propulsion systems, and passenger coaches for the Indian Railways and for the export markets as well. In addition to the design, manufacture & supply of 102 metro coaches for the Pune Metro and the largest ever order for procurement of 24,177 wagons which are under execution, the company has been awarded prestigious orders by the Indian Railways for the manufacture and maintenance of Vande Bharat Trains and Wheels for the same under the Atma Nirbhar and Make in India initiatives of the Government of India and is a significant enabler for railway infrastructure of the country. Beyond its substantial engagement in the railway sector, Titagarh holds business interests in shipbuilding, bridges, and defence.
Its major rivals in railway division are Jupiter Wagons and Medha Servo Drive.
The founder of Titagarh Rail Systems, Jagadish Prasad Chowdhary, commenced his professional journey as an account assistant at a tea estate in Darjeeling, West Bengal. Subsequently, he relocated to Calcutta (now Kolkata) and assumed the role of an accountant at a steel casting company that supplied materials to the Indian Railways. Chowdhary eventually assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the steel castings company.
In the year 1982, Chowdhary as an entrepreneur acquired the defunct foundry division of the government-owned Britannia Engineering then under liquidation, situated in Titagarh, Barrackpore, West Bengal. Renaming the enterprise as Titagarh Steels Limited (TSL), he commenced production of railway casting components, specifically bogies and couplers & crossings and turned around the operations of the Foundry in a record time. In 1994, Chowdhary was invited to present a rehabilitation plan for the two Paper Mills of the then sick Titagarh Paper Mills Company Limited which were vested in TSL by a Scheme of Rehabilitation by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR). Subsequently, these Paper Mills were spun off into two separate companies through a Scheme of Arrangement sanctioned by the Hon’ble High Court, Calcutta.
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 July 2010, Titagarh Wagons purchased the French rail wagon maker Arbel Fauvet Rail (AFR) for €15 million (first overseas acquisition), which had gone into receivership in February 2009. Titagarh Wagons turned around AFR and with the subsidiary's revenue rising from ₹99.5 million (US$1.2 million) in 2010–11 to ₹1.64 billion (US$19 million) in 2011–12, and the employee headcount almost doubling from 85 to 150. A French commercial court ordered the liquidation 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 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 ₹1 billion (US$12 million) in AFR since acquiring the company.
Titagarh Wagons acquired Corporated Shipyard in 2012 and merged it in Titagarh Marines to manufacture ships for the Indian Navy. Corporated Shipyard won its first defence contract in 2017.
In 2015, Titagarh Wagons acquired the brand name and know-how 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 €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, Spello and Tito.
In May 2016, Titagarh Wagons formed a 50/50 joint venture with French Matiere SAS to manufacture metallic and modular bridges. Titagarh Wagons acquired Matiere's stake in July 2020, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary.
In 2019, Titagarh Firema was awarded the contract to supply 102 aluminium bodied metro rail coaches for the Pune Metro by Maha Metro. 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.
In April 2021, the company secured a ₹3.5 billion (equivalent to ₹3.9 billion or US$46 million in 2023) contract to supply rolling stock for the Ahmedabad Metro.
In February 2024, the company secured a ₹1.7 billion (US$20 million) contract for supplying 250 specialized wagons to the Ministry of Defence.
In March 2024, the company secured a ₹19.09 billion (US$220 million) contract for supplying 4463 BOSM Wagons to the Ministry of Railways.
Titagarh Rail Systems Limited reported a total income of ₹28.22 billion (US$330 million) during the financial year ended 31 March 2023 as compared to ₹14.85 billion (equivalent to ₹16 billion or US$180 million in 2023) during the financial year ended 31 March 2022. The company posted a net profit of ₹1.3 billion (US$15 million) for the financial year ended 31 March 2023 as against a loss of ₹3.2 million (equivalent to ₹3.4 million or US$40,000 in 2023) for the financial year ended 31 March 2022.
Former subsidiaries