Jupiter Wagons has partnered with Italy’s Lucchini RS to build India’s first fully integrated private railwheel manufacturing platform.

The Kolkata based wagon maker has struck a strategic partnership with Lucchini RS Holding and SIMEST, an Italian government backed financial institution, to build what the company calls India’s first fully integrated private sector platform for making railway wheels, axles and wheelsets.

Under the deal, Lucchini RS will pick up a 15% stake in Jupiter Tatravagonka Railwheel Factory, the joint venture entity running this business.

SIMEST will take another 10%. Together, that 25% stake is valued at around 28 million euros, roughly Rs 307 crore.

The idea is to build something India currently doesn’t have, a single facility that can handle the entire process from raw material to finished wheelsets.

An existing plant in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, which already does wheel machining and assembly, will be combined with a new greenfield facility coming up in Odisha.

That Odisha site will handle the upstream work like forging and metallurgy. According to management, this fills a real technology gap.

India currently lacks the expertise to manufacture wheelsets suited for high speed and semi high speed rail, and Lucchini RS is considered a global leader in that space.

Axle production is expected to start by the end of this year, with wheel manufacturing following in the third quarter of next year. Full scale operations are targeted for FY28.

Exports are expected to be a big part of this business, potentially making up 50 to 60% of total revenue, helped along by Lucchini’s international network and existing demand from European wagon maker Tatravagonka.

Jupiter Wagons is targeting annual revenue of around Rs 3,000 crore from this business by the end of FY28, along with margins upwards of 18%.

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