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RCF is an Indian Railways coach manufacturing company, the first of which was founded in 1985 at Kapurthala. RCF has already made a place for itself in the industrial landscape. After producing its first coach in March 1988, it has grown to become Indian Railways’ biggest and most contemporary coach manufacturing unit. More than 39,000 RCF-built coaches are currently travelling the length and breadth of the country. RCF adds over 1500 coaches to its fleet every year, including both AC and non-AC Broad Gauge coaches. RCF has a cutting-edge CAD centre and CNC machines to design and manufacture bogies, shells, and other components.
The RCF at Kapurthala has achieved excellence in the design, development, manufacture, installation, and after-sales service of railway coaches, thanks to its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and processes, resulting in increased rail customer satisfaction.
Rail Coach Factory
Indian Railways owns several factories and workshops across the country that produce coaches and bogies, some of which are located at:
- Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, Chittaranjan
- Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi
- Integral Coach Factory, Chennai
- Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala
- Rail Wheel Factory, Bangalore
- Diesel Loco Modernisation Works, Patiala
- Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli
The Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala
The factory is located 7 kilometres from Kapurthala, India’s historical capital. The integrated township is well-planned and surrounded by lush greenery. It is regarded as one of the country’s best residential complexes.
The RCF is a self-contained community with a shopping mall, six schools, banks with ATMs, and a 76-bed hospital. The RCF colony also has a lovely lake complex and various sports facilities.
Key Highlights
Located in Punjab, on the Jalandhar–Firozpur railway line, the Kapurthala RCF, established in 1986, has produced over 30,000 passenger coaches of various types, including self-propelled passenger vehicles, accounting for more than half of India’s total railway coach population.
It is set to produce 1025 coaches per year. Over 35% of the total Indian Railway coaches are made here.
The RCF produced a record number of coaches in the financial year 2013–14, with 1701 coaches built against a capacity of 1500 per year. The factory produced 23 different coach variants for high-speed trains such as the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, double-decker, and others.
In collaboration with DRDE, the factory developed a highly cost-effective indigenous technology for treating biowaste in the coaches. Approximately 2096 bio-toilets were installed in 2013–14. The factory has already exported Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) coaches to Southeast Asian and African countries with metre gauge rail networks; Indian Railways’ experience with metre gauge rolling stock has proven helpful in serving these markets.
Certifications
Since 1995, RCF has held an ISO-9001 certificate. It was the first organisation in the country to receive an ISO-14001 certification in Environment Management for its workshop, residential complex, and hospital in July 1999.
Since May 2009, RCF has held IMS certifications, including an ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, and OHSAS 18001:2007 for IMS, Quality, Environment, and Workplace safety respectively.
In May 2017, the RCF received an ISO:50001 certification, which entails using energy efficiently to save money while conserving resources and combating climate change. It encourages the development of an energy management system to help people use energy more efficiently (EnMS).
Since January 2020, the RCF has been an IRIS-certified organisation.
Conclusion
A large portion of the rail freight and heavy engineering components used by Indian Railways are manufactured. As in other developing economies, the fundamental factor is the import substitution of expensive technology-related items. With the outstanding demonstration by various manufacturing units producing railways components, Indian Railways has not only become considerably self-reliant but is also exporting overseas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ireland on September 23, 2015. It was the second time an Indian Prime Minister had visited Ireland. The first being Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit in 1956. Ireland is an island nation located in Northwestern Europe and surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Prime Minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny, had hosted PM Modi during his visit. The PM was attended by other dignitaries such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charles Flanagan, and Ireland’s Ambassador to India, Feilim McLaughlin. The main aim of the visit was to create stronger ties and improve trade and cultural relations. Described below is the impact of the PM’s Ireland visit.
Impact on trade and commerce
India and Ireland have strong bilateral trade and business relations. Before the PM’s visit, trades with Ireland were valued at €650 million in business in 2014. This included exports worth €248m and imports worth €402 million.
The indigenous exports increased from €32 million in 2012 to €55 million in 2014. In 2019, the total bilateral trade was around €1.2 billion. The exports and the imports have also increased to €636 million and €480 million respectively. Currently, the total trade between India and Ireland is valued at €4.2 billion. This resulted from improved bilateral ties between the two nations, owing to Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ireland.
Indian Companies in Ireland
Many Indian companies carry out trade and commerce in Ireland. They provide services to Irish markets and consumers across various industries. Pharmaceutical giants such as Reliance Genemedix and Amneal Pharmaceuticals operate in Ireland. Major IT companies such as Wipro, Infosys, TCS, and HCL also have a strong presence in the country. The trade relations were bolstered after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ireland.
Other companies like Crompton Greaves, Deepak Fasteners, Jain irrigation systems, and Shapoorji Pallonji provide consumer goods and services. Likewise, many Irish companies conduct their business in the Indian market. These companies include pharmaceutical and nutrition players like ICON and Glanbia, IT firms like Globoforce and other companies like Keventer, CRH Taxback Group, and Connolly Red Mills.
Impact on Education
Ireland has been a coveted destination for higher education for Indian students. Over 5000 Indian students have enrolled for higher studies in various institutions in Ireland. The students are admitted to engineering, technology, medicine and management colleges. More than 30 research agreements have been signed between the two nations that allow institutes in both countries to collaborate.
Many reputed institutes like Trinity College, Dublin, and Thapar University, Patiala, have signed MOUs for engineering and science disciplines programmes. Thus, Ireland is an essential collaborator in graduate and doctoral research. This collaboration is also considered an impact of the PM’s Ireland visit.
Indian Community in Ireland
Ireland is diplomatically significant for India also due to the large number of Indian citizens residing there. The Indian origin population is approximately 45,000 people, of whom 18,500 are Non-Resident Indians (NRI), and others are Persons of Indian Origin (PIO). The majority of the residents are working professionals employed in engineering, healthcare and management positions.
It has helped in establishing many policies for the Indian origin population. Two such policies in practice are wearing hijab as a part of the police uniform and the non-requirement of obtaining an additional work permit for the spouse or the partner of Critical Skill Employment Permit holders.
Cultural Impact
As a result of a large population of Indian origin citizens in Ireland and the relationship between the two nations, Ireland promotes Indian culture in various forms. One such example is the celebration of Diwali in Ireland since 2008. The event is organised every year in collaboration with Irish and Indian committees.
Further, an annual contemporary film festival is also a part of the celebration of Indian culture. The promotion of such events indicates the importance of cultural exchange between the two nations. The Irish communities also take a keen interest in conventional practices such as cultivating and consuming Indian herbs and spices. This connects the agricultural practices between the two nations. The cultural ties between the countries were strong, and Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ireland helped strengthen them further.
Another significant practice is the celebration of International Yoga Day in Ireland. The Irish communities have accepted Yoga as a form of a healthy lifestyle. The practice is similar to the Indian tradition.
Tourism
India attracts around 44,000 Irish tourists every year. Indian tourists too visit Ireland in similar numbers. This was facilitated by the introduction of the common British-Irish visa scheme. This scheme allows the tourists to visit the U.K. and Ireland under one visa, rather than applying for two separate visas. It is valid for short stays. India also extended its Electronic Tourist Visa facility to Ireland to digitally facilitate visa approval and generation. The impact of the PM’s Ireland visit was such that it has also helped establish the tourism sector in both countries.
Conclusion
The diplomatic ties between Ireland and India have been impacted positively after Prime Minister Modi visited Ireland in 2015. It was an essential step toward strengthening the bilateral relationship between these two nations. India and Ireland have been important to each other since the 1900s.
In 2010 and 2017, two honorary consulates were established in Chennai and Kolkata. Later in 2019, a formal and fully functional consulate general in Mumbai. Ireland and India have also shown their allegiance to fighting terrorism after the Pulwama attack. India has also hosted several Irish dignitaries on various occasions. These visits were directed toward engagement in business, education, health and tourism.
Further, many agreements were signed to provide opportunities for employment to people of both countries. Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ireland helped revive relatively stagnant relations between these two nations. Several cultural and historically similar instances bind these two nations. From Yeats and Tagore to cricket and Diwali, the cultural semblance between these two nations has helped create a strong tie between them.
