New Delhi (Metro Rail News):The Vande Bharat project has encountered a major setback as the Indian Railways has scrapped a tender worth ₹30,000 crore that had been awarded to the French engineering company Alstom. The tender was intended for the manufacturing and maintenance of 100 aluminum-bodied Vande Bharat train sets over the next 35 years.
The tender panel expressed concerns about the abruptness of the company’s initial offer, leading Indian Railways to initiate negotiations to lower the proposed amount to ₹140 crore per train set. In response, the company requested that the final settlement be made at ₹145 crore per train set.
About the tender
- Alstom was appointed for the manufacturing and maintenance of 100 Aluminium -bodied Vande Bharat train sets for the upcoming 35 years.
- The bids were invited in June 2022 and were opened in February 2023. Subsequently the tender was awarded to Alstom.
- Alstom India and a consortium of Swiss Company Stadler Rail and Hyderabad-based Medha Servo Drives were the only bidders that were successful in submitting the bid.
- Alstom proposed ₹150.9 crore per train while on the other hand Medha proposed ₹169 crore per train.
Sudhanshu Mani’s point of view
Sudhanshu Mani, former General Manager of Integral Coach Factory and creator of the Vande Bharat train expressed his grief by stating that this is the second unsuccessful attempt of employing a manufacturer for aluminium body trains.
“The first attempt was made in 2017-18 when ICF floated a Train20 tender for manufacturing 20 such Vande Bharat train sets. But it did not materialise,” Mr. Mani said as reported by The Hindu.
If the tender had been successful, Alstom would have collaborated with Indian firms to establish a facility for producing the extrusions and profiles necessary for constructing the train bodies. Mr. Mani said that such a substantial tender would have incentivised companies to invest in this plant. As major components became locally manufactured, this move would have ultimately reduced the cost of producing aluminum train.
Mr. Mani said by cancelling this tender, “we are putting the project to manufacture aluminium-bodied trains back by several years”. “It is a retrograde step. The Indian Railways should have negotiated further and settled at a price,” he mentioned.
Vande Bharat Trains:
Vande Bharat express is a semi high speed with maximum operational speed of 160 km per hour. The main objective of Vande Bharat is to improve connectivity and reduce travel time for passengers between major cities. Most importantly the energy consumption of Vande Bharat is comparatively less than those local trains which will benefit the environment.
