 "Railway workers at New Delhi Railway Station on Thursday, February 26 2015 Picture by PTI")
The railways on Thursday announced shortlisting Bombardier, Hitachi, Kawasaki, Toshiba, Siemens and BHEL among others for supply of 17 trains sets comprising 316 cars.
Besides, a new joint venture on the lines of those with Alstom Transportation and GE for two production units in Bihar will be set up to produce coaches at Kanchrapara in West Bengal.
Estimated to cost about Rs 860 crore, the bidding process for the coach factory has been in the works since February 2010. The unit was conceptualised when Trinamool Congress leader and current West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was railway minister.
An exercise for prequalification of bidders was initiated and eight firms had qualified on August 13, 2010, for submission of financial bids. The process was scrapped because of the ensuing delay and in October 2015 a fresh request for qualification process was initiated. According to the railways, companies will be submit their applications by January 15, 2016, and the winning bid is expected to be finalised by May 2016.
The factory to be set up with 26 per cent railway equity is proposed to produce 5,000 coaches over 10 years. It will manufacture electric multiple units (EMUs) and mainline electrical multiple units (MEMUs) used for suburban transport.
According to estimates by the National Transport Development Policy Committee (NTDPC), there will be a requirement of 30,000 EMU/MEMU coaches by 2032.
For supply of train sets, the railways have shortlisted five bidders, including consortiums of Alstom and government-owned Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML); CAF and Bombardier; Hitachi and Ansaldo; and Kawasaki, Toshiba and government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. Siemens has bid alone.
Briefing reporters today, Naveen Tandon, member (electrical), Railway Board, said in each of the three production units, Madhepura, Marhoa and Kanchrapara, the railways would be responsible for providing land, road and electricity at the site.
Earlier this week, the railways awarded contracts to GE and Alstom to set up diesel and electric locomotive factories in Marhoa and Madhepura, respectively, in Bihar at a cost of about Rs 40,000 crore. The two contracts, formal agreements for which are yet to be signed, will mark the first big foreign direct investment (FDI) in the railways.
The diesel locomotive factory in Marhoa will cost Rs 2,052 crore and the facility to manufacture electrical engines in Madhepura will require an investment of Rs 1,293.57 crore.
GE, the lowest bidder for the Marhoa diesel locomotive factory, is expected to manufacture 1,000 locomotives over 10 years. While 100 will be imported, the rest will be manufactured at the new facility. There will be two types of diesel locomotives of 4,500 horsepower (HP) and 6,000 HP. Two locomotive sheds will be built in Gandhidham (Gujarat) and Bhatinda (Punjab) for maintenance of the modern diesel locomotives.
Alstom, the lowest bidder for the Madhepura electric locomotive factory, will manufacture 800 high-power electric locomotives in the next 10 years. It will manufacture 12,000 HP electric locomotives.
Bharat Salhotra, managing director, Alstom Transportation India, who was also present at the railway briefing, said the initial equity infusion of Rs 500 crore would be made by their global parent. Salhotra emphasised that a huge vendor industry would develop around the project.
According to the contract, while five diesel locomotives will be imported, the remaining 795 will be manufactured in Madhepura. Tandon said the production unit would also cater to the export market. “There will be a guaranteed availability of 95 per cent and reliability of 200,000 km per failure,” he said. Two maintenance depots to be transferred to the ministry of railways will be set up at Saharanpur and Nagpur.
Besides, a new joint venture on the lines of those with Alstom Transportation and GE for two production units in Bihar will be set up to produce coaches at Kanchrapara in West Bengal.
Estimated to cost about Rs 860 crore, the bidding process for the coach factory has been in the works since February 2010. The unit was conceptualised when Trinamool Congress leader and current West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was railway minister.
An exercise for prequalification of bidders was initiated and eight firms had qualified on August 13, 2010, for submission of financial bids. The process was scrapped because of the ensuing delay and in October 2015 a fresh request for qualification process was initiated. According to the railways, companies will be submit their applications by January 15, 2016, and the winning bid is expected to be finalised by May 2016.
The factory to be set up with 26 per cent railway equity is proposed to produce 5,000 coaches over 10 years. It will manufacture electric multiple units (EMUs) and mainline electrical multiple units (MEMUs) used for suburban transport.
According to estimates by the National Transport Development Policy Committee (NTDPC), there will be a requirement of 30,000 EMU/MEMU coaches by 2032.
For supply of train sets, the railways have shortlisted five bidders, including consortiums of Alstom and government-owned Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML); CAF and Bombardier; Hitachi and Ansaldo; and Kawasaki, Toshiba and government-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. Siemens has bid alone.
Briefing reporters today, Naveen Tandon, member (electrical), Railway Board, said in each of the three production units, Madhepura, Marhoa and Kanchrapara, the railways would be responsible for providing land, road and electricity at the site.
Earlier this week, the railways awarded contracts to GE and Alstom to set up diesel and electric locomotive factories in Marhoa and Madhepura, respectively, in Bihar at a cost of about Rs 40,000 crore. The two contracts, formal agreements for which are yet to be signed, will mark the first big foreign direct investment (FDI) in the railways.
The diesel locomotive factory in Marhoa will cost Rs 2,052 crore and the facility to manufacture electrical engines in Madhepura will require an investment of Rs 1,293.57 crore.
GE, the lowest bidder for the Marhoa diesel locomotive factory, is expected to manufacture 1,000 locomotives over 10 years. While 100 will be imported, the rest will be manufactured at the new facility. There will be two types of diesel locomotives of 4,500 horsepower (HP) and 6,000 HP. Two locomotive sheds will be built in Gandhidham (Gujarat) and Bhatinda (Punjab) for maintenance of the modern diesel locomotives.
Alstom, the lowest bidder for the Madhepura electric locomotive factory, will manufacture 800 high-power electric locomotives in the next 10 years. It will manufacture 12,000 HP electric locomotives.
Bharat Salhotra, managing director, Alstom Transportation India, who was also present at the railway briefing, said the initial equity infusion of Rs 500 crore would be made by their global parent. Salhotra emphasised that a huge vendor industry would develop around the project.
According to the contract, while five diesel locomotives will be imported, the remaining 795 will be manufactured in Madhepura. Tandon said the production unit would also cater to the export market. “There will be a guaranteed availability of 95 per cent and reliability of 200,000 km per failure,” he said. Two maintenance depots to be transferred to the ministry of railways will be set up at Saharanpur and Nagpur.
