INTEGRAL COACH FACTORY, CHENNAI-600038
About Us:
The Integral Coach Factory is one of the earliest production units of independent India. It was inaugurated by the first Prime Minister of India Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on 2nd October, 1955. Later the Furnishing Division was inaugurated on 2nd October, 1962 and the production of fully furnished coaches steadily increased over the years. Spread over 511 acres, it has more than 9500 employees who turnout more than 4000 coaches in more than 175 varieties every year which includes conventional and self-propelled coaches in LHB and other designs.
Production:
ICF has the capability of designing and developing any variant with in-house facility. Every year, new variants are added to the product mix. ICF continues to experiment with design & development of new type coaches such as self propelled and other special type coaches. During the second week of October 2022, ICF has achieved the distinction of having turned out 70,000+ coaches since its inception, which is the highest by any passenger coach manufacturer in the world.
Growth by leaps and bounds:
Production of indigenously manufactured all-steel all-welded railway shells started in the year 1955 with an installed capacity of 350 shells per annum. The production was steadily increased duly augmenting infrastructure over the years and 1000 coaches were turned out for the first time in 1990. In the production year (2018-19), ICF has created a record by turning out 4166 coaches, which is the highest ever production by not only ICF but any other coach manufacturer in the world. but Despite COVID restrictions, ICF has turned out 3101 coaches in the production year 2021-22. The production during last year includes 31 rakes of MEMU (248 coaches), 15 Vistadome tourist coaches, 2639 LHB Coaches, 4 air-conditioned new generation rakes for Kolkata Metro and 50 Diesel Electric Tower Car (Underslung) etc.
Export:
ICF has exported more than 750 coaches, shells and components to countries such as Thailand, Burma, Taiwan, Zambia, Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Malaysia, Angola and Sri Lanka which also includes exports of shells and coach components, to a total value of Rs.605.75 crores (approx).
Recently, ICF has dispatched two rakes of 1600 HP DEMU for Nepal Railways which was jointly flagged off by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and Hon’ble Prime Minister of Nepal Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba the first ever train service between Jaynagar (Bihar, India) and Kurtha (Nepal) on 02.04.2022 making a landmark in the cross-border connectivity. ICF has exported 77 (2020-21) and 83 (2021-22) mainline coaches completing the total order of 160 coaches and 2 Air-conditioned rakes (26 coaches) of DMEU for Sri Lanka Railways.
ICF a Green Producer and Carbon Negative Unit:
ICF is known for its efforts in the eco– preservation front be it creation of exclusive green forests in the ICF surroundings, installation of windmills and solar panels for generation of electricity. ICF is a Zero discharge factory and also a ‘Green Workshop’. ICF has developed Green houses in its premises, where it would develop saplings and it is supported by a Poly House where the seeding process for the saplings would be undertaken. ICF has become the only organization in Indian Railways to have completely neutralized green house gas emission due to its industrial activity and achieved Carbon Negative status.
Milestones:
ICF had completed glorious 66 years since inception and has turned out more than 68,000 coaches, the highest by any rail coach manufacturer in the world. Today, ICF is the front runner in the manufacture of self-propelled coaches viz. EMU, MEMU, SPART, OHE Tower car, SPIC and DEMU in the country. In 2018-19, ICF took a giant leap by rolling out India’s first semi high speed train set, viz. Vande Bharat Express that was flagged off by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India from New Delhi to Varanasi. The second rake of Vande Bharat Express was also turned out by ICF during May, 2019. The 16 coach semi-high speed Trainset with 80% indigenous inputs manufactured by ICF under “Make in India” project consists of 16 coaches and is designed for Maximum Operating speed of 160 kmph. Version 2.0 of Vande Bharat Express rake with improved features, was rolled out from ICF, which was flagged off by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi ji on 30th September, 2022 from Gandhi Nagar Capital to Mumbai Central.
Recent Achievements
ICF has received the prestigious certification of GreenCo GOLD level of excellence award under the Green Company Rating System by Confederation of Indian Industries - Shorabji Godrej Green Business Centre, India. ICF also had bagged the prestigious EN 15085 certificate for specific welding standard for manufacturer of railway vehicles and components. ICF is the first Production unit of Indian Railways to acquire such certification.
Up to September 2022, ICF has turned out 1093 coaches.
Best Production Unit Award
For the year 2021-22, ICF has been declared as the Best Production Unit among the Indian Railways PUs and has been awarded the prestigious Best PU Shield for the same.
