The process to manufacture 200 semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains has moved forward with Russia’s CJSC Transmashholding and Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (TMH-RVNL) consortium emerging as the lowest bidder.
The second lowest bidder was Indian engineering major Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Kolkata-based Titagarh Wagons who will be given a chance to match the lowest bid to bag a share of the tender.
The consortium of TMH and Indian public sector unit RVNL has bid ₹120 crore per train set which is less than the cost of the last Vande Bharat trains manufactured by ICF-Chennai at ₹128 crore a set.TMH-RVNL outbid BHEL-Titagarh Wagons that had quoted ₹140 crore a train set which indicates that the Russian company is keen to enter the Indian market and thus made a low bid.This is TMH’s first attempt into getting a piece of the Railway business in India. Among other three bidders, BEML in partnership with German major Siemens made a bid at the third lowest rate at Rs 145 crore per train set.
French rolling stock maker Alstom took the fourth position while Swiss company Stadler in partnership with Hyderabad-based Medha, suppliers of the propulsion system of the current Vande Bharat, made the fifth lowest bid.
The tender of the biggest Vande Bharat
The tender of the biggest Vande Bharat induction call in one go by India so far seeks to bring in sleeper versions of the marquee train along with the current seating-only types.These newly-designed trains will allow movement of new locomotives on longer routes.
The tender document states that the selected bidder will be manufacturing 200 train sets of sleeper version of 16 coaches each at the railway factory in Latur in Maharashtra and the ICF in Chennai.The offer is to manufacture the train sets in India and deliver them in a phased manner in about 2-5 years while also looking after the maintenance of the train sets for 35 years.
Railway Board sources revealed that the order will be divided into first two lowest bidders in a 60-40 ratio. According to the bid conditions, manufacture, supply and maintenance of 120 trains would be given to the lowest bidder (L1) and the trains would be manufactured at the Latur facility of the Indian Railways.
The remaining 80 trains would be manufactured at the Chennai facility and will be given to the second lowest (L2) bidder, if they match the price offered by L1. In case, BHEL denies the offer to match, the lowest bid will be made to the rest and if none of them agrees to match the rate then the TMH-RVNL will be manufacturing all 200 sets.
It should be noted that the government allocated a capital outlay of Rs 2.40 lakh crore for the Indian Railways in the Budget 2024-24, which is significantly higher than Rs 1.40 lakh crore allocated in 2022-23.The government has set a target of manufacturing 400 Vande Bharat trains in India by 2024-25 end and also aims to export them to South Africa and some European countries by 2026.
