Beijing, Nov 15 (IANS) China's leading locomotive maker, CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co Ltd, has made the country's first bulk export of eight-inch chips to India, the company said on Tuesday.

The company in Hunan province said it exported eight-inch insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) chips that will be used for upgrading the transformers of 100 locomotives in India to make the electric trains more energy efficient, Xinhua news agency reported.

The China-made chips are currently used on the 7,200-kilowatt electric locomotives that power China's high-speed trains.

CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co Ltd built the world's second eight-inch chip production line in 2014, which has reached annual output of 120,000 chips and one million IGBT modules.

The IGBT chip is a key technology of modern electric appliances. It can be used in everything from high-speed rail to the aerospace and aviation industries.

The Chinese locomotive maker expects the chips to have huge export potential.