Wed Mar 12 18:41:58 UTC 2025: ## Railways Accused of Sabotaging Indigenous HMT Wheel Lathe
**KOCHI, Kerala, March 13, 2025** – Former Rajya Sabha member K. Chandran Pillai has accused Indian Railways of deliberately undermining the Kalamassery unit of HMT by excluding its domestically produced surface wheel lathe from recent procurement bids.
The lathe, developed in 2022 under the Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, was reportedly created at half the cost of imported alternatives. However, Pillai alleges that the Railways, which has historically sourced lathes from a private company, included a clause in its December 2024 and February 2025 tenders specifying that only companies with at least two prior surface wheel lathe supplies could participate. This effectively bars HMT’s participation, despite its successful development of the technology.
Pillai claims this condition is a deliberate attempt to favor the private company and sabotage the efforts of the HMT unit to compete in the market. He has called for an investigation by the Ministry of Steel and Heavy Industries, the Railway Minister, and intervention from the Kerala State government and its Industries department. He asserts that the Railways’ actions undermine the government’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (Self-Reliant India) initiative.
First Piper 