Goyal slams Congress over Rae Bareli coach factory

New Delhi : Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday hit out at the Congress over the Rae Bareli Modern Coach Factory, saying it had not made a single coach till 2014 when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha over Demands for Grants for his Ministry, Goyal said the Rae Bareli factory made its first coach in 2014 although the project was sanctioned in 2007-08. "Not a single coach had been made till we came in power in 2014. Employees were not appointed and tenders were not opened.

When Modiji came to power, he directed us to appoint employees and make coaches. And the first coach was produced from the factory in 2014," Goyal said. The Minister said the coach production continued to increase every year and a total of 711 coaches were made in 2017-18 while the annual coach production capacity of the unit was 1,000.

"New engineers were contacted and new technology was adopted to increase the production and a total of 1,425 coaches were made in 2018-19." The Minister asserted that several impossible works were made possible in the development process of Railways.

He said the government's aim was to make the factory capable of producing 5,000 coaches and become the world's largest such factory. "This is the thinking of this government. If our vision is fulfilled, Indian made coaches would go all over the world. And it will also increase business and employment," he added.