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• Decks have been cleared for trial production of wheels at the railways' Belapur wheel factory near Chhapra from April this year with the casting trial all set to begin from March 12.The railways has got clearance from the Union ministry for environment and forest to start production at the factory, said chief administrative officer (workshop) Rajiv Mishra. This will be the first major factory of the railways to become functional in the state this year. The project has cost Rs 1,417.23 crore.The factory, the second of its kind in the country after the one in Bangalore, has the capacity to produce about one lakh wheels of goods wagons, passenger coaches and locomotives per year using the latest technology, sources said.

• The railways would require at least one lakh wheels every year after the commissioning of the dedicated freight corridors. Since it has decided to run more goods trains across the country, more wheels will be required for goods trains, an ECR official said.The wheels required by the railways are currently manufactured at the Bangalore factory and the heavy industries ministry's factory at Durgapur in West Bengal, the sources said.

• According to a Railway Board official, wheels are also imported, especially for locomotives, from foreign countries to bridge the demand-supply gap. One imported wheel, including its axle, costs Rs 3 lakh. "The Chhapra factory would help the railways save foreign currency," the official said and added the greatest advantage of this factory would be that the Hajipur-headquartered East Central Railway (ECR) would no longer need to send its wheels and axles to Bangalore for their periodical reconditioning.

• ECR general manager Varun Bharthuar took personal interest to ensure the factory became functional. Raw materials have reached the factory premises, the sources said and added there was a plan to manufacture 2,000 wheels during the trial period.According to the sources, the railways have acquired over 138 acres of land for the project. While the factory is spread over 52 acres, another 35 acres of land is meant for the siding yard and 51 acres of land for a residential colony for the factory's employees.

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