China''s Exim Bank to finance purchase of 75 locomotives

China''s Exim Bank has agreed to provide loan for the purchase of 75 locomotives for Pakistan Railways and has submitted its terms and conditions to lend money, said Assad Saeed, General Manager, Services and Manufacturing of Pakistan Railways. ''Basically our visit was to negotiate loan with Exim Bank for the purchase of 75 locomotives for Pakistan Railways,'' he told APP on Sunday.
Saeed, who is heading a six-member delegation, said they held meetings with Exim Bank of China and its sister insurance company, which agreed to provide loan and submitted their terms for the credit facility.
The GM Railways said the delegation is leaving for home on Monday and would submit the terms and conditions for examination to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Division and for the final decision to be taken by the competent authority. The total cost of the agreement is $105 million dollars out of which, the Government of Pakistan would pay 15 percent and the Exim Bank would pay remaining $89 million.
Referring to their visit to locomotive manufacturing factory in Dalian, Assad Saeed said that China has made great advancement in this technology and they are now manufacturing locomotives of various categories including 7200 KW (Electric) and over 6000 Horse Power (diesel). To a question, he said these locomotives are suitable for our climate and meet our requirements, adding that Pakistan railways has good experience of their performance in the past.
He also said, although railways faced some problems in 69 locomotives purchased earlier from China, however, for the last three years, their performance is very satisfactory after removal of the snags by Chinese. Keeping past performance in view, Railways floated tenders for the purchase of 75 locomotives, he said adding, the important fact was that the Chinese manufacturers have not increased cost of the unit and price mentioned was almost the same, as it was in 2001.
Saeed said if this cost is taken into consideration, it is almost half of the price quoted by other countries. The agreement, when signed, included transfer of technology, training of staff and routine inspections of the locomotives, he said. ''They agreed to provide transfer of technology, so that in future Pakistan could be able to manufacture these locomotives that would also help save precious foreign exchange,'' he noted.