Kolkata: Global rail leasing major Touax Group, Kolkata-headquartered Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd and US-based TrinityRail Global Inc on Thursday announced a tripartite partnership to expand railcar leasing solutions in India.
Under the arrangement, TrinityRail Global will acquire a 32 per cent stake in Touax Texmaco Railcar Leasing Pvt Ltd (TTRL), the existing joint venture between Touax Group and Texmaco, creating the "country's first global railcar leasing platform", the companies said in a statement.
No other financial and investment details were disclosed.
The partners said the venture would combine manufacturing, leasing, financing and lifecycle management capabilities to serve India's rapidly growing freight rail market, estimated at around Rs 3 lakh crore.
"This partnership marks a defining moment for India's freight rail ecosystem. By combining Touax's leasing expertise, Trinity's global rail technology leadership, and Texmaco's manufacturing and market strengths, we are building a scalable, resilient, and globally benchmarked platform," Texmaco Chairman Saroj Kumar Poddar said.
The statement said the platform would introduce advanced wagon designs, professional leasing models and lifecycle management solutions aimed at reducing maintenance costs, improving asset utilisation and shortening production timelines.
The announcement comes as India seeks to raise rail's share in freight movement to 45 per cent from 27 per cent, a shift expected to generate substantial demand for freight wagons and attract greater private sector investment.
"India represents a compelling long-term opportunity for rail freight growth. Through this partnership with Texmaco and Touax, Trinity will bring advanced wagon designs, lease finance experience and lifecycle expertise to India," said Jean Savage, CEO and President of Trinity Industries.
Touax Group CEO Fabrice Walewski said India is a strategic growth market for the Paris-headquartered company, and the partnership would provide the technological and financial scale needed to support the country's expanding freight requirements.
The venture will offer an integrated ecosystem covering wagon design, manufacturing, leasing, maintenance, lifecycle engineering and financing. It will also focus on indigenised manufacturing through Texmaco's production facilities and Global Capability Centre, in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, the statement said.
Customers would benefit from asset-light operating lease models, enabling access to modern rolling stock without large upfront capital expenditure, while global financing support is expected to improve leasing efficiency and accelerate fleet adoption across the sector, it added.
