The Indian Railways has placed an order to procure 39,000 wheels for train coaches from a Chinese manufacturing firm, the Centre told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw gave details of the deal with China-based company Taiyyun in a written reply to a question from Trinamool Congress MP Mala Roy.

Vaishnaw added that an order for 30,000 wheels had earlier been placed with a Ukraine-based company. However, the company was unable to meet the contract due to the Russian invasion of the country.

“M/s KLW invoked force majeure clause due to inability to supply on account of war crisis in Ukraine and a formal purchase order could not be issued to the Ukrainian firm,” Vaishnaw said.

The minister said that Taiyyun’s rate was 1.68% higher than per wheel than what the Ukrainian firm offered.

Despite the border tensions between Beijing and New Delhi, exports from China to India rose by 45.51% in 2021-’22, data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed last month. Notably, India’s exports to China grew by 0.61% in the same period.

The biggest imports from China includes iron and steel commodities, fertilisers, oil seeds, silk, among other items.