Destination Progress

India’s economic output is changing even faster than its image. This huge emerging market with over 1.3 billion people has achieved impressive growth in recent decades, making it the world’s fifth-largest economy today. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that by 2024, India's gross domestic product will only be slightly lower than that of Germany. About three years after that, India will replace China as the most populous country in the world, the United Nations expects.

This dynamic change is not without its problems. Population growth and accelerated urbanization are causing greenhouse gas emissions to continue to rise. At the same time, the lack of public transportation cuts economically disadvantaged groups off from their jobs. This is why the rapid expansion of public transport is becoming increasingly important.

Voith has been supplying DRMC with couplers and transmissions for a long time and is responsible for their maintenance. “As a supplier of key components, we can provide safe, efficient, top-quality units and help drive the expansion of the metro in India forward,” explains Gregor Wiche, Chief Marketing Officer Mobility APAC, Voith Turbo.

But the systematic expansion of the transport infrastructure will also mean increased service requirements. This is why in addition to the company’s three locations in Hyderabad (production, service, sales), Pune (sales) and Kolkata (sales), Voith has opened another rail service location in Faridabad, only about 30 kilometers south of Delhi’s city center. “By opening this new service center, we want to further expand the range of services we offer for the metro rail aftermarket in India and contribute to the country’s urbanization and improve its transport system,” says Kuntal Dasgupta, Vice President Mobility India, Voith Turbo.

The company will need to move fast. A total of 40 percent of India’s population is expected to live in cities by 2030, generating 75 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. This will only be possible with an efficient infrastructure on a met ropolitan scale.