Bangalore, July 9 (IANS): State-run Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML) plans to manufacture hi-tech rail coaches for low, medium and high speed trains in technology collaboration with Alstom of France, a top company official said Thursday.

"We have signed an agreement with Alstom for technology transfer to build coaches for light-speed, medium and high-speed trains for metro and intra-city commuting. We will jointly bid for the orders when projects are initiated under public-private partnership by Indian Railways and state governments," BEML chairman V.R.S. Natarajan told reporters here.

As part of the agreement, Alstom will also outsource components from BEML for its global operations.

Alstom will have access to BEML's plants in Bangalore and the greenfield project it is building at Palakkad in Kerala at an estimated cost of Rs.260 crore (Rs.2.6 billion) for sourcing components and other railway products.

"We forsee a business potential of Rs.5,000 crore in high-tech Metro trains for intra-city commuting," Natarajan said.

Metro projects are coming up in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi, while Metro services are already in operation in Kolkata and New Delhi.

"We have developed six-car Metro train set for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and plan to launch low-cost Metro trains for catering to tier-two cities such as Pune and Kochi," Natarajan added.

Alstom already operates in India with a research and development (R&D) and software technology centre in Bangalore and four manufacturing units across the country for hydro equipment, boilers and transport equipment.