“When someone in our family fell sick, we had to travel 10 to 15 kilometres to the nearest hospital. The roads were rough, transport was scarce, and often by the time we reached our destination, the condition had worsened. We felt helpless and lost,” says Rahul Kumar, resident of Madhepura, Bihar.

For decades, life in this region moved to the pulse of survival. Access to healthcare was limited, schools had little exposure to modern learning, roads were underdeveloped, and opportunities beyond farming were scarce. 

Young people and women had very few avenues to acquire skills or explore livelihoods beyond their villages. Awareness about basic hygiene, nutrition, and women’s health was minimal, and social taboos often prevented open conversation. The district’s socio-economic challenges meant families could rarely imagine a future beyond subsistence farming.

Amid these hardships, an ambitious idea started reshaping the community. 

Indian Railways connects India like no other, and in 2015, a PPP came into being, which in turn positively changed the lives of people of Madhepura. Indian Railways' joint venture with Alstom brought MELPL to life.  

Madhepura Electric Locomotive Private Limited (MELPL) is currently building India’s most powerful electric locomotives, the 12,000-horsepower Prima WAG12B, for freight transportation. The project celebrated a decade of operations in November 2025.

The site in Madhepura houses India’s largest integrated greenfield manufacturing facility, including a state-of-the-art manufacturing centre and a township spread across 250 acres, built to the highest standards of quality. 

However, for MELPL and Indian Railways, the project was never only about locomotives alone. The central question was always, what does progress mean for the people of the region?

“Our responsibility extended beyond creating world-class locomotives,” says Vivek Garg, managing director of MELPL and Service, Alstom India.  “We had to make sure that our presence in Madhepura translated into real improvements in the lives of people around us. That was our starting point.”

“We do not look at projects as standalone initiatives. Each programme is designed to create systemic change. Whether it is in education, healthcare, skill development, or women’s health, our approach has been holistic, aiming to empower the community at every level,” says Sapna Bhawnani, VP Communications and CSR, Asia-Pacific Region, Alstom, to The Better India. 

In Madhepura, healthcare facilities were sparse, schools lacked advanced learning, and........

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