Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is a manufacturer of rail coaches located in Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1955 and is owned and operated by the Indian Railways. It is located in Perambur, in the suburbs of Chennai. The ICF is one of the five rake production units of the Indian Railways, the other four being the Modern Coach Factory at Raebareli, Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala , Marathwada Rail Coach Factory at Latur and Rail coach factory at sonipat . The coach factory primarily manufactures rolling stock for Indian Railways but also exports railway coaches to other countries. ICF set a new record producing 2,503 coaches in the fiscal year 2017–18. It became the world's largest railway coach manufacturer, rolling out 3,262 coaches in the fiscal year 2018–19, up from 1,437 coaches in 2009–10, expecting to produce 4,000 units in the fiscal year 2019–20. A premier production unit of the Indian railways, the ICF manufactures a range of coaches, including Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) ones, in addition to self-propelled train sets (SPTs) such as electrical multiple units (EMU). Introduction In 1948, the Government of India decided that a separate Railway Coach Building Works should be established with a view to attain self-sufficiency in coaches for Indian Railways. A technical Aid Agreement was concluded on 28 May 1949 with the Swiss Car and Elevator Manufacturing Corporation Ltd. of Switzerland, who have been pioneers in the field of light-weight coach building for obtaining the necessary technical assistance in the establishment of a factory in India for building the coaches. A supplemental agreement was signed on 27 June 1953. After a comprehensive survey of several alternative sites for locating the factory, the vacant Railway land to the west of the Loco Repair Shops of the Southern Railway at Perambur was chosen as the final site in June 1951. The site is ideally situated with rail connections to the factory readily available and a nearby suburban railway station to bring workmen to the factory. History The Integral Coach Factory is one of the earliest production units of independent India. It was initiated by Chief Minister K. Kamaraj and inaugurated by the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru on 2 October 1955. Later the Furnishing Division was inaugurated on 2 October 1962 and the production of fully furnished coaches steadily increased over the years. The total estimated cost of the factory was