Hitachi Ltd.'s group arm in India has won an order for transformers for 400 electric locomotives from the state-backed Indian Railways for 1.2 billion rupees ($15.9 million).

ABB Power Products and Systems India Ltd. will make the equipment at a plant in Vadodara, the western state of Gujarat, to be used in locomotives produced at the railway firm's Chittaranjan Locomotive Works factory, a Hitachi spokeswoman in Tokyo told NNA on Friday.

Transformers reduce voltage to a suitable level when electric locomotives take electricity from catenary feeder substations, feeding power to essential train functions such as traction, lighting and brakes as well as heating and ventilation, Hitachi said in a statement last Thursday.

The installation of Hitachi's transformers is part of the Indian government's efforts to achieve zero carbon emission within the next 10 years, the statement said.

On July 1, the Japanese industrial equipment-to-infrastructure group completed the acquisition of an 80.1 percent stake in the power grids business of Switzerland-based ABB Ltd. The Indian arm is a local unit of the new company, Hitachi ABB Power Grids Ltd., according to Hitachi. (NNA/Kyodo)

==Kyodo

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