function of the Stores Department. This is done by means of auctions, tender sale, and staff sales. Evolution of purchase function in Indian Railways At the time of independence, Indian Railways was running primarily on steam locomotives. Most of the components required for steam locomotives were made in workshops, and the components which were to be purchased, were very few. The stores requirements for track, signaling, C&W and other general items were also inadequate. As, at that time, the industrialization of country had just started, a substantial number of stores were to be imported mainly through India Supply Mission. The function of the stores department, at that time, was limited and mainly centered on storekeeping. However, with the start of dieselisation in 1950s and speeding up of electrification from 1960s, the face of railways started changing. Electric locomotives, compared to steam locomotives, required more items that were sophisticated and had to be purchased. It was mainly with dieselisation and electrification, that the purchase function of railways started evolving though other changing areas, e.g. signaling, production of coaches, track laying, and maintenance activity. Apart from more number of purchase items, the issues like quality and reliability of items and the firms who were supplying them also became relevant as diesel and electric locomotives required sophisticated items for which credentials and capabilities of vendors needed to be pre-assessed. Activity of approval and registration of firms thus started. As the railway system was expanding, the funds became scarce and there was an urgent need to keep inventories at optimum levels so that capital could be used elsewhere, making inventory control important. Similarly the scrap sales function also became more and more important over the years. Purchasing and its allied activities became complex as the traffic and train services increased in number and size. Purchase activity, which was clerical in nature in earlier days, had to respond to the needs of time become professional. The 1980s and 1990s saw more types of rolling stocks and improved maintenance practices. The railway network as measured by track km remained more or less the same, the increase in traffic and customer expectation put severe constraints on all the resources like track, rolling stock sheds, and workshops. Less time became available for maintenance. From the mid 1990s, safe running of trains emerged as an important issue and compared to previous decades, and more items became essential for safe