Siemens Limited received an order for 1,200 locomotives of 9000 horsepower (HP) from Indian Railways, marking the single largest locomotive order in the history of Siemens Mobility and single largest order in the history of Siemens in India. Siemens Limited will design, manufacture, commission and test the locomotives. Deliveries are planned over an eleven-year period, and the contract includes 35 years of full service maintenance.

The locomotives will be assembled in the Indian Railways factory in Dahod, Gujarat. Maintenance will be performed in four Indian Railways depots located in Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Kharagpur and Pune. Locomotive assembly and maintenance will be implemented together with the staff of Indian Railways.

The contract has a total value of INR 26,000 crore (approximately), excluding taxes and price variation. The state-of-the-art locomotives will be used for freight transport throughout the Indian Railways network and are specified to haul loads of 4,500 tons at a maximum speed of 120 km per hour. Producing 9000 HP, they will be one of the most powerful freight locomotives in the world.

They will be equipped with advanced propulsion systems that are also produced locally in Siemens factories in India as well as the Railigent platform to deliver high levels of availability and performance. India has one of the world's largest rail transport and logistics networks used daily by 24 million passengers on more than 22,000 trains. Additionally, the Government of India plans to increase the share of railways in freight to 40-45% from the current 27%.

India is one of the few countries in the world with an almost fully-electrified rail network.