Former Rajya Sabha member Ok. Chandran Pillai has alleged that the Indian Railways are conspiring to miss the Kalamassery unit of HMT by not utilising the floor wheel lathe it developed in 2022.

The wheel lathe had been developed beneath the Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. Nonetheless, the Railways had been intentionally ignoring it when procuring new lathes, he stated right here on Wednesday (March 11, 2025).

The Railways invited bids for the provision of floor wheel lathes for the primary time since 2022 in December 2024 and February 2025. Nonetheless, the Railways had adopted a stance in its bid invitation to disregard and exclude the HMT unit right here by incorporating a situation within the tender that solely corporations that had equipped not less than two floor wheel lathes might take part, Mr. Pillai claimed.

The Railways had been procuring floor wheel lathes from a personal firm. Nonetheless, it was at their occasion that the HMT Kalamassery unit developed the gear beneath the Atmanirbhar programme of the Union authorities. The unit undertook its personal analysis to create a high-power floor wheel lathe and produced it at half the price of what had been paid earlier, he stated.

“Nonetheless, the Railways at the moment are sabotaging efforts to make sure high quality and keep competitiveness available in the market. The situation launched within the bids is aimed toward favouring the personal firm. The stringent requirement is meant to bypass the HMT unit,” Mr. Pillai alleged.

He added that the stance taken by the Railways ought to be carefully examined by the Ministry of Metal and Heavy Industries and the Railway Minister. He additionally urged the State authorities and the Industries division to intervene within the matter.