New Delhi, Jul 20 (IANS): A purchase order for 39,000 wheels for LHB coaches has been placed by Indian Railways with Chinese manufacturer Taiyuan. The rate on which the contract was placed was 1.68 per cent higher than the rate per wheel given in the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) by an Ukrainian firm, the Railway Ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said, "Purchase order for 39,000 wheels for LHB coaches has been placed by Indian Railways on M/s TZ(Taizhong), Hong Kong, with manufacturer M/s Taiyuan, China, against global tender."

The ministry said that due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the supplies against the ongoing contracts with the firms from Russia and Ukraine have been affected.

"Earlier, LoA for 30,000 wheels for LHB coaches was issued on M/s KLW with a manufacturer based in Ukraine. Subsequently, M/s KLW invoked the force majeure clause due to its inability to supply on account of the war, so formal purchase order could not be issued to the Ukrainian firm," Vaishnav said.