State-run railway engineering and consulting firm RITES Ltd is poised to restart high-value rolling stock exports to Bangladesh, Mozambique, and South Africa in the upcoming financial year. The company aims to double the export share in its revenue, targeting at least one overseas order each quarter, as stated by CMD Rahul Mithal in a recent interview.
RITES plans to expand its international presence in consultancy opportunities across Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and West Asia, while also extending its inspection services beyond neighboring countries like Sri Lanka. This inspection business involves certifying products and processes for various infrastructure projects.
“After a four-year break, we are witnessing a resurgence in high-value rolling stock exports at RITES. Starting from the last quarter of the previous fiscal year, we have secured one export order each quarter, and we aim to maintain this momentum,” Mithal remarked.
The company is set to begin generating revenue from rolling stock exports with the supply of passenger coaches to Bangladesh in the second half of next year, while deliveries of locomotives to Mozambique are expected early next year. “Pending design approvals from railway operators in South Africa, we anticipate starting deliveries of diesel locomotives and generating revenue from the next fiscal year,” the chairman and managing director added.
RITES has secured a ₹900 crore order from Bangladesh for the supply of 200 rail coaches in nine different designs, a ₹300 crore order for 10 diesel locomotives to Mozambique, and two orders totaling ₹90 crore for supplying in-service diesel locomotives to South Africa, which still have 15-20 years of operational life remaining. The South African order will serve as a test for the use of these diesel locomotives on cape gauge networks, presenting significant potential for other African nations and even Indonesia, where trains operate on this gauge.
“Our export orders are expected to start generating revenue from the next fiscal year, and we anticipate at least a 20% growth in our tooling and double-digit growth in our bottom line by FY26,” Mithal stated.
As the export arm of Indian Railways, RITES reported a consolidated operating revenue of ₹576 crore in Q3FY25, down from ₹683 crore in Q3FY24, marking a 15.7% decline. Total revenue for the quarter also decreased to ₹614 crore from ₹700 crore in Q3FY24. Consequently, RITES experienced a decline in both revenue and net profit during the nine-month period ending December 31.
“Securing over 110 orders worth more than ₹1,900 crore in just one quarter (Q3), nearly equal to the total orders received in FY24, highlights our strategy to aggressively advance, leveraging our multisectoral strengths,” Mithal concluded.
