New Milestone in Locomotive Production: India Surpasses the US and Europe by Producing 1,681 Locomotives for the Financial Year 2024-25 19% rise in production;1,681 locomotives in FY 2024-25, 209 more than 1,472 in FY 2023-24
‘Make in India’ Drives Growth: Locomotive Production Surges to 9,168 in Last 10 Years, Doubling Annual Average to 917
Posted On: 02 APR 2025 4:55PM by PIB Delhi
India has emerged as a global leader in railway locomotive manufacturing, achieving a record production of 1,681 locomotives in the financial year 2024-25. This milestone surpasses the total locomotive production of regions such as the United States, Europe, South America, Africa, and Australia, reaffirming India’s growing dominance in the global railway sector.
Indian Railways’ locomotive manufacturing units have achieved a remarkable milestone by producing 1,681 locomotives in various categories during the financial year 2024-25. This marks an increase of 209 locomotives, or 19%, compared to the 1,472 locomotives produced in the previous financial year 2023-24. This record-breaking production is the highest ever for locomotive manufacturing in the country, reflecting the significant achievements of all units in enhancing railway infrastructure and capacity.
The continuous rise in locomotive production is a direct result of strategic decisions taken to strengthen the “Make in India” initiative. Between 2004 and 2014, India produced a total of 4,695 locomotives, with a national annual average of 470. In contrast, from 2014 to 2024, locomotive manufacturing witnessed a significant surge, with 9,168 locomotives produced, raising the annual average to approximately 917.
In the financial year 2024-25, Indian Railways achieved a record production of 1,681 locomotives across its manufacturing units. The production was distributed as follows: Chittaranjan Locomotive Works manufactured 700 locomotives, Banaras Locomotive Works produced 477, Patiala Locomotive Works contributed 304 locomotives and 100 locomotives each were manufactured at the Madhepura and Marhowrah units
The majority of the locomotives produced in the country were intended for freight trains. Among the 1,681 locomotives produced in the financial year 2024-25, the breakdown is as follows:
The Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) has been implementing various skilling and education schemes for socio-economic development of minorities to make them employment ready.
The Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) is a flagship scheme of the Ministry, which converges five erstwhile schemes viz. ‘Seekho Aur Kamao’, ‘Nai Manzil’, ‘Nai Roshni’, ‘USTTAD’ and ‘Hamari Dharohar’ schemes and focuses on upliftment of six notified minority communities through the following:
Skilling and Training (Non-traditional and traditional)
Women Leadership and Entrepreneurship
Education (through National Institute of Open Schooling)
Infrastructure Development (through Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram)
The scheme also provisions to facilitate credit linkages by connecting beneficiaries with loan programs offered by the National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC). Under the scheme; the Ministry has received some proposals and is in the process of short-listing and finalising the projects.
Under the scheme, the implementing partners are to ensure placement of candidates trained through their linkages with the industries.
The Ministry is collaborating with the Central Government Ministries/Departments and State/UT governments to seek proposals from willing agencies under the Scheme. Further, Ministry also spread awareness about its schemes through initiatives like Hunar Haat and Lok Samvardhan Parv, print and social media platforms, etc. This is a central sector scheme, which would be implemented at pan India basis.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Minority Affairs & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
LCQ19: Promoting staging of international convention and exhibition activities in Hong Kong
These C&E events have attracted numerous participants (including exhibitors and buyers), not only benefitting the C&E industry but also bringing in high-spending business travellers that drive economic activities in such related sectors as accommodation, catering, retail and entertainment, thereby benefitting various industries and bringing important contributions to Hong Kong’s economy. According to the statistics of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, there were about 1.42 million overnight C&E visitors in 2024 and their per capita spending was about $7,800.
In 2025, it is estimated that the HKCEC and the AWE will organise over 140 conventions and 180 exhibitions in total, including large-scale international exhibitions and conferences such as Art Basel Hong Kong 2025, Routes World 2025 and the Asia Financial Forum.
In view of the contribution of C&E events to Hong Kong’s overall economy, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government launched the Incentive Scheme for Recurrent Exhibitions (ISRE) in July 2023 which was very well received. As announced in the 2024 Policy Address, the HKSAR Government would allocate an additional provision of $500 million for implementing the ISRE 2.0, subsidising venue rentals of eligible exhibitions organised by private organisers at specified venues (including the Central Harbourfront Event Space and relevant parts of the West Kowloon Cultural District which are newly included in the ISRE 2.0, apart from the HKCEC and the AWE). The ISRE 2.0 will focus on attracting new and recurrent international exhibitions of a large scale to further promote the development of the C&E industry and the mega event economy, thereby generating overall economic benefits for Hong Kong. The ISRE 2.0 will be launched on July 1 this year subject to the Legislative Council’s funding approval.
Hong Kong is the world’s 10th largest trading entity in merchandise trade and has developed into the region’s premier C&E hub. The international large-scale C&E events held here will help enhance Hong Kong’s image as an international C&E hub, foster overall economic development and trade, and promote Hong Kong’s brands in various industries to assist Hong Kong enterprises in tapping the Mainland and international markets, while reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as an international trade centre and fully demonstrating our role as the “super connector” and “super value-adder” between the Mainland and the rest of the world. The HKSAR Government will continue to promote the development of the C&E industry and attract more international large-scale C&E events to be staged in Hong Kong. Issued at HKT 17:40
New Delhi, April 2: The Department of Science and Technology (DST) clarifies that recent media reports suggesting a contradiction in responses given in Parliament regarding the first state to implement a science policy are misleading. The two questions asked in 2022 and 2025 were different in scope and intent, and the answers provided were in accordance with the specific queries posed.
In response to a Parliamentary Question on July 21, 2022, which sought to determine whether any State Government had ever initiated a science policy since independence, DST cited Gujarat’s Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Policy of 2018 as an example. The answer was factual and aligned with the query, which did not ask for a chronological first but rather if any state had initiated such a policy.
In contrast, the Parliamentary Question answered on March 13, 2025, explicitly sought information on all states that have implemented a science policy, as well as the first state to do so post-independence. In response, DST provided a comprehensive list of states with their respective policy implementation years—Kerala (1974 & 2002), Gujarat (2018), Himachal Pradesh (2021), and Madhya Pradesh (2022). Kerala was specifically mentioned as the first state to have implemented a science policy in 1974, which directly answered the question posed.
DST emphasizes that there is no contradiction in the responses. The difference in the information provided arises from the distinct nature of the questions asked. The department remains committed to transparency and accuracy in all its parliamentary responses and upholds the highest standards of accountability in disseminating information.
a. Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs) are being developed by various public and private entities across the country, depending on their feasibility. Government has approved 35 locations for development of Multi-Modal logistics Parks across India to improve the logistics efficiency which is also expected to enable reduction in the logistics cost.
Out of the approved locations, (05) MMLPs at Jogighopa, Chennai, Bengaluru, Nagpur and Indore are under development and expected to be operational in FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27.
b. The amount allocated for the 5 MMLPs that have been awarded is given at Annexure-I.
c. The estimated Cargo volume for the 5 MMLPs that have been awarded is given at Annexure-II.
Annexure mentioned in Part (b) of reply
Annexure mentioned in Part (c) of reply
This reply was given by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written statement to an unstarred question (3619) in the Rajya Sabha.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
CE meets Governor of Jiangxi Province (with photo) Mr Lee welcomed Mr Ye and his delegation to Hong Kong. Mr Lee noted that Hong Kong and Jiangxi have been maintaining close economic and trade relations, and the Jiangxi-Hong Kong economic and trade co-operation activities held by Jiangxi since 2002 have been a significant platform for exchange and collaboration between the two places. He said that Hong Kong is Jiangxi’s largest source of external investment and an important trading partner, with the total value of imports and exports between the two places exceeding US$9.4 billion last year. Hong Kong also serves as a main capital market for Jiangxi enterprises listed outside of the Mainland.
Mr Lee said that this year marks the 60th anniversary of Dongjiang’s water supply to Hong Kong. Jiangxi, as the source of Dongjiang River, has been providing a vital water supply to Hong Kong over the past six decades. He expressed gratitude to Jiangxi Province for its long-standing efforts in ensuring the safety and cleanliness of the Dongjiang water source, which has been crucial to Hong Kong’s prosperity and development.
Mr Lee noted that Hong Kong is a key link in the Belt and Road Initiative and a core city of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Under the “one country, two systems” principle, Hong Kong has the distinctive advantages of enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world. He said that Hong Kong will give full play to its roles as a “super connector” and a “super value-adder” to serve Jiangxi in expanding international markets. Issued at HKT 17:30
As per the information provided by Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), surveillance data on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in food animals including poultry is compiled and published as part of the Indian Network for Fisheries and Animal Antimicrobial Resistance (INFAAR) annual report, which is accessible to the public. The study conducted by ICAR – Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) examined various factors like agro climatic zones, pathogen phylotypes and host characteristics including utilization of machine learning algorithms to identify key drivers of AMR in poultry.
The measures and advisories are outlined as follows:
Department under Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme (LHDCP) scheme, 100% central assistance is provided to States/UTs for vaccination against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Brucellosis, Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) and Classical Swine Fever (CSF), Lumpy Skin Disease, Black Quarter, Haemorrhagic Septicaemia etc. including disease surveillance, monitoring and capacity building. Vaccination reduces the use of antibiotics, hence reduce the AMR.
Department has developed The ‘Standard Veterinary Treatment Guidelines (SVTGs) for Livestock and Poultry’ for best practices in veterinary care to enhance livestock health and disease control while ensuring the responsible use of drugs including antimicrobials.
DAHD has formulated the Poultry Disease Action Plan, which emphasizes proactive disease management through biosecurity measures, enhanced surveillance, and vaccination protocols, thereby safeguarding both poultry population and public health.
Bharat Pashudhan application under National Digital Livestock Mission provides management of nearly 29 common ailments of dairy animals e.g. mastitis, indigestion, diarrhoea etc. using Ethno-Veterinary Medicine (EVM).
Department has constituted the Empowered Committee on Animal Health-Regulatory, a subcommittee to ‘Assess and provide recommendations on submission of veterinary vaccines/biological/drugs for policy input’ to examine the proposals received from DCGI regarding import and manufacturing of drugs and vaccine including antibiotics.
Department has formulated the National Action Plan on Anti Microbial Resistance (AMR) in consultation with MoH&FW and other stake holders for judicious use, surveillance and monitoring of antibiotics in animal health sector. MoA&FW is also one of the stakeholder in respect to use of pesticides and antibiotics in agriculture sector keeping in view the One Health Initiative and provisions under NAP-AMR.
Department has issued advisories to all State/UTs for judicious use of antibiotics in treatment of food producing animals, for stopping the use of antibiotics in animal feed and for general awareness.
As per information received from the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO) import, manufacture, sale, distribution of drugs including antibiotics are regulated under the provisions of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules there under. Further, it is mandatory that the container of the medicine for treatment of food producing animals requires to be labelled with the withdrawal period of the drug for the species on which it is intended to be used.
On the recommendations of the Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Colistin and its formulations have been prohibited to be manufactured, sold and distributed for food producing animals, poultry, aqua farming and animal feed supplement
ICAR has strengthened the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by initiating All India Network Programme on AMR (AINP-AMR) involving 31 centres across different states of the country. Further, INFAAR is a nationwide initiative that comprises 20 animals science centres establishing a strong frame work for monitoring and surveillance.
The Central Government has notified the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Egg laying Hens) Rules, 2023 to ensure the welfare of poultry specifically for the space requirement for sheltering the poultry bird. As per the Rule 10 of the said Rules following shall be prohibited for feeding of laying hens:
Feeding of laying hens with remains of dead chicks.
Use of antimicrobial growth promoters.
Use of antimicrobials, if required, may be administered for therapeutic purposes (disease treatment) and only under supervision of a veterinarian and
Withdrawal of feed to induce a molting.
This information was given by Union Minister of State, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on 2nd April, 2025.
In order to create decentralized food grain storage capacity in the country, the Government on 31.5.2023 approved the World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector, which has been rolled out as a Pilot Project. It entails creation of various agri infrastructure at the level of Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS), including setting up decentralized godowns, custom hiring center, processing units, sorting and grading facilities, cold storage units, packhouses etc. through convergence of various existing schemes of the Government of India (GoI), such as, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme (AMI), Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME), etc.
The Plan addresses transportation and distribution challenges by enabling local storage of grains at the PACS level, minimizing long-distance transportation costs and losses. Additionally, by integrating PACS with agri-marketing and procurement systems, direct access to storage facilities is ensured for farmers, reducing their dependence on intermediaries. Hence, the Plan aims to ensure better price realization for farmers, reduce transportation costs, and create employment opportunities in rural areas.
Under the Pilot project of the Plan, 11 godowns in 11 PACS have been constructed across the country and a total storage capacity of 9,750 MT has been created.
The Government on 15.2.2023, has approved the Plan for strengthening cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots. The Plan entails establishment of 2 lakh new multipurpose PACS (M-PACS), Dairy, Fishery Cooperative Societies covering all the Panchayats/ villages in the country in five years, through convergence of various existing GOI schemes, including Dairy Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF), National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), etc. with the support of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD), National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and State Governments.
As per National Cooperative Database, a total of 3,667 new PACS have been registered as on 27.1.2025 across the country, including 148 new PACS in the State of Maharashtra, since the approval of the plan on 15.2.2023. The State-wise details of the same are enclosed at Annexure.
Government of India has approved a project for Computerization of functional PACS with a total financial outlay of ₹2,516 Crore, which entails bringing all the functional PACS onto an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) based common national software, linking them with NABARD through State Cooperative Banks (StCBs) and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs). The National Level Common Software for the project has been developed by NABARD and 50,455 PACS have been onboarded on ERP software as on 27.01.2025. So far, proposals for computerization of 67,930 PACS from 30 States/ UTs have been sanctioned, for which Rs. 741.34 Cr. has been released as GoI share to the States/UTs concerned as on 27.01.2025 and hardware has been delivered to 60,382 PACS.
*****
S. No.
State/UT
Newly registered PACS
1.
Andaman And Nicobar Islands
1
2.
Andhra Pradesh
0
3.
Arunachal Pradesh
12
4.
Assam
59
5.
Bihar
25
6.
Chhattisgarh
0
7.
Goa
12
8.
Gujarat
291
9.
Haryana
2
10.
Himachal Pradesh
57
11.
Jammu And Kashmir
84
12.
Jharkhand
44
13.
Karnataka
128
14.
Ladakh
0
15.
Lakshadweep
0
16.
Madhya Pradesh
16
17.
Maharashtra
148
18.
Manipur
68
19.
Meghalaya
193
20.
Mizoram
25
21.
Nagaland
12
22.
Odisha
1,535
23.
Puducherry
2
24.
Punjab
0
25.
Rajasthan
760
26.
Sikkim
23
27.
Tamil Nadu
21
28.
Telangana
0
29.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu
4
30.
Tripura
38
31.
Uttar Pradesh
94
32.
Uttarakhand
0
33.
West Bengal
13
Total
3,667
This was stated by the Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
Poshan Tracker app aims to enhance Anganwadi Worker’s capacity to deliver optimal early childhood care and education services to all children Till now, over 36,000 SLMTs and 420,000 Anganwadi Workers trained Nationwide under Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi Program
Posted On: 02 APR 2025 3:31PM by PIB Delhi
Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi (PBPB) Programme was launched on 10th May, 2023 with an objective to improve the quality of education in the Anganwadi centers along with the focus on nutrition.
This national initiative aims to provide all 13.9 lakh Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) with a 5 day in person training – 3 days in Round 1 (2023-25) and 2 days in Round 2 (2025-26). A Two Tier Training PBPB Implementation Model is being followed. Tier 1 involves two days training of State Level Master Trainers (SLMTs). Tier 2 involves a 3 Days Training of Anganwadi Workers (AWWs). It covers curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment tools, emphasizing play-based, activity-based learning.
Capacity-building under PBPB helps to facilitate implementation of Aadharshila (National Curriculum for Early Childhood Care and Education for Children from Three to Six Years) and Navchetana (National Framework for Early Childhood Stimulation for Children from Birth to Three Years) at the Anganwadi Centre level in the mother tongue. Up to 27th March, 2025, 36,424 SLMTs have been trained under Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi programs in Round 1 across the country and 420,360 Anganwadi Workers have been trained across the country including 35,174 AWWs from the State of Maharashtra.
In PBPB Round 1, Day 1 training schedule covers sessions including Introduction to Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi, Developmental Domains and Play-based ECCE activities, and Weekly and Daily schedule as per Aadharshila and home visits as per Navchetana, Day 2 covers nutrition, including IYCF, SAM/MAM treatment micronutrient deficiencies, Dietary Guidelines, Growth Monitoring, parental engagement and community mobilization, etc. Day 3 covers divyang inclusion and birth to three stimulation, child assessments and learning outcomes, home visits and practices during pregnancy known as “Garbh Sanskar”, States best practices, etc.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has leveraged the Poshan Tracker application to empower Anganwadi Workers and provide them with continuous digital support and coaching. This initiative aims to enhance their capacity to deliver optimal early childhood care and education services to all children.
As part of the digital training efforts, daily learning prompts based on Aadharshila are sent to all AWWs through the Poshan Tracker app. These include two ECCE activity videos and one voice note summarizing the day’s activities for children aged 3 to 6 years at Anganwadi Centres. The content follows a structured 44-week curriculum, with 36 weeks of active learning and 8 weeks for recap and reinforcement. Over 230 unique videos, 180+ voice notes, and 1,000+ activity PDFs have been uploaded
The Government has approved the Plan to establish 2 lakh new multi-purpose PACS (M-PACS), Dairy & Fishery Cooperative Societies to cover all the Panchayats/ Villages across the country through convergence of various existing schemes of Government of India (GoI), including Dairy Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF), National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), etc, with the support of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD), National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and State/ UT Governments. The convergence of GoI schemes under this Plan enables newly formed Dairy & Fishery Cooperative Societies to set up and modernize necessary infrastructure for diversifying their activities, like, milk testing laboratories, bulk milk coolers, milk processing units, construction of biofloc ponds, fish kiosks, development of hatcheries, acquiring deep sea fishing vessels, etc.
Further, in order to diversify the business activities of PACS, the Government has circulated Model Bye-laws for PACS to all the States/ UTs, which enable them to undertake more than 25 economic activities, including dairy, fishery, floriculture, setting up godowns, processing, marketing of agricultural produce, custom hiring centers, Common Service Centers (CSCs), Fair Price Shops (FPS), community irrigation, etc. The registration of new PACS as multipurpose PACS enables them as well as their farmer members to diversify their business activities, expand their access to markets & credit and generate additional sources of revenue for themselves.
As on 27.1.2025, 12,957 new M-PACS, Dairy and Fishery Cooperative Societies have been registered across States/ UTs, with 17,10,224 farmer members associated with them, the details of which are enclosed at Annexure.
The formation of these newly formed cooperative societies enables their farmer members to get requisite forward and backward linkages to market their produce, expand the size of their markets, enhance their incomes, obtain credit facilities, and other services at the village level itself, thus contributing towards strengthening the rural economy.
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Annexure
State/ UT- wise details of newly registered Cooperative Societies
Sr. No.
State/UT
Total no. of newly
registered M-PACS, DCS and FCS
No. of associated farmer members
1.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
9
104
2.
Andhra Pradesh
897
18,018
3.
Arunachal Pradesh
33
1,337
4.
Assam
321
17,546
5.
Bihar
308
80,873
6.
Chhattisgarh
331
6,050
7.
Goa
12
247
8.
Gujarat
733
98,031
9.
Haryana
50
4,389
10.
Himachal Pradesh
411
8,556
11.
Jammu & Kashmir
1,118
22,840
12.
Jharkhand
248
9,858
13.
Karnataka
598
82,035
14.
Ladakh
4
371
15.
Lakshadweep
7
508
16.
Madhya Pradesh
613
27,350
17.
Maharashtra
889
65,008
18.
Manipur
95
11,216
19.
Meghalaya
206
11,994
20.
Mizoram
29
1,093
21.
Nagaland
14
657
22.
Odisha
1,535
6,87,126
23.
Puducherry
7
507
24.
Punjab
80
1,851
25.
Rajasthan
1,995
3,22,255
26.
Sikkim
57
1,192
27.
Tamil Nadu
520
36,271
28.
Telangana
82
2,345
29.
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman &
Diu
5
298
30.
Tripura
40
961
31.
Uttar Pradesh
1,464
1,79,926
32.
Uttarakhand
147
3,612
33.
West Bengal
99
5,799
Total
12,957
17,10,224
This was stated by the Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.