The Chief Minister's Office of Bihar shared remarks by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday, 21 June 2026, highlighting the scale of locomotive manufacturing at the Marhaura facility in Saran district, underscoring the plant's contribution to India's railway supply chain.

In the post, the Chief Minister stated that 'वर्ष 2016 से मढ़ौरा में अब तक 835 से अधिक रेलवे इंजनों का निर्माण किया जा चुका है' — 'since 2016, more than 835 railway engines have been manufactured at Marhaura, which have been dispatched to various parts of the country as well as abroad.'

Context

The Marhaura Locomotive Factory in Saran district, Bihar, was established as part of a public-private partnership to produce diesel locomotives for Indian Railways. The facility emerged from a 2015 Union government decision to set up two new locomotive factories in Bihar under the Make in India programme, with commercial production beginning in 2016.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has consistently cited the Marhaura plant as a flagship example of industrial investment in Bihar, using it to illustrate the state's growing role in national infrastructure manufacturing.

Policy Backdrop

The push to build locomotives domestically is part of a broader national strategy to reduce dependence on imports and modernise the Indian Railways fleet, one of the world's largest rail networks. Greenfield plants such as the one at Marhaura are central to this effort, providing capacity that supplements older production centres.

Bihar's inclusion in this supply chain represents a deliberate policy choice to channel industrial investment into the state, which has historically lagged in manufacturing output. The Make in India framework provided the policy architecture for such facilities to attract both public funding and private participation.

Stakeholders and Impact

The factory directly supports railway workers and ancillary industries in and around Saran district. Beyond local employment, the locomotives produced at Marhaura feed into Indian Railways' fleet replenishment and zone-level distribution across the country.

The dispatch of engines to destinations abroad, as cited by CM Nitish Kumar, positions the plant within India's limited but growing portfolio of railway rolling-stock exports, signalling a degree of quality recognition in international markets.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to whether the Marhaura Locomotive Factory announces updated annual production targets or secures new export orders as the facility matures. Any technology transfer agreements or capacity expansion plans would mark the next significant milestone for the plant.

For Bihar, continued output from Marhaura strengthens the state government's narrative of industrial revival — a theme that carries weight ahead of future electoral and budgetary cycles.