In a major boost to the Indian Railways and Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's flagship Make in India programme, the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai has been accorded the final approval for rolling out 45 sets of Train-18 variant Vande Bharat Express trains by 2021-22, when India completes 75 years of independence from British rule, reports The Hindu.

The Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) has already approved a revised design which will likely ensure that the new Vande Bharat Express trains will be lighter in weight, and will consume less power, which were a point of contention in the case of the first two train sets operating between Delhi and Varanasi, and between Delhi and Katra.

The 45 rakes, meaning 720 coaches, that the ICF has been mandated to make now will be on a revised design of the Train18 model approved by the RDSO

The approval accorded to the ICF by Union Minister Piyush Goyal headed Ministry of Railways has dealt a death blow to the controversy over the move to import complete train sets by floating global tenders, and ensures no compromise on the Government of India's Make in India programme.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Railways had also sought opinions from the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, and the Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli to involve them in the process of rolling out 45 Vande Bharat Express trains by 2021-22.