Spokesperson: Shri Brijendra Singh: He demanded immediate clarity from the Government of India and called for a parliamentary inquiry into the Siemens contractworth Rs. 26,000 crores. The Party also flagged conflict of interest since the current Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at one time had worked for the Siemens and the GE.

“Why were the details of the bidders not disclosed during the bidding process?” he asked, adding, “were other potential bidders given a fair chance?” Referring to the massive decline in the manufacturing growth during the BJP regime, Singh noted that while the average manufacturing growth in the country stood at 7.4% during 2004–2014, it has slowed down significantly to 3.15% between 2014 and 2024.

Quoting recent statements by Siemens clearly indicating that only final assembly, testing and commissioning are being done at the factory in Dahod, he said, the rest of the critical components including the engine systems and power converters, are being produced at factories owned by Siemens in Nashik, Aurangabad and Mumbai. This goes against the government’s original claim that Dahod would be turned into a full-fledged manufacturing site, he observed, adding, it not only deprives Indian Railways of critical technical knowledge, but also reduces Indian engineers to technicians performing basic assembly. “For a project of such financial and strategic scale, this is a surrender”, he remarked. Monday June 23, 2025