Indian Railways may again push the deadline for 100 Vande Bharat trains

These AC 3-tier Economy Class coaches will be attached in various mail and express trains.

The Indian Railways is once again considering pushing back the deadline for the second tender for 100 aluminium-body Vande Bharat trains, after only two companies bid for the first tender, also for the manufacture of 100 such trains.

"Industry players have asked for some more time to set up manufacturing facilities for steel and aluminium coaches. So the tender may be pushed back by a quarter," an official aware of the ongoing discussions said.

At the moment, the deadline for submitting bids for the second tender to manufacture 100 aluminium trains is April 23.

Another official added that in order to get the best price, competition was essential. The official also said that in order to ensure timely production of the trains, the order for the second tender will be distributed among multiple players.

The first official added that in order to technically qualify to bid for the tender, companies need to have a research & development (R&D) facility so that they can manufacture a prototype, and also have the capacity to manufacture at least five trains a year. The 100 trains need to be delivered over 7 years.

Last week, French railway major Alstom, and the Medha-Stadler consortium (comprising Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler Rail and Hyderabad-based Medha Servo Drives), were the only two companies that submitted technical bids for the Rs 30,000 crore contract to produce and maintain 100 aluminium-body Vande Bharat trains for 35 years.

According to the officials, the winning bidder (of the first tender tender) will receive Rs 13,000 crore upon delivery of the trains, with an additional Rs 17,000 crore to be paid over 35 years for maintenance.

This tender, which was closed last week, was originally supposed to be opened last year, but the government extended the deadline for bid submission in order to get more players to participate.

Government officials had anticipated approximately five bids from companies such as Germany-based Siemens in partnership with BEML, Russia’s Transmashholding, and Rail Vikas Nigam.

However, these companies did not bid, as they reportedly lacked the technical qualifications required to bid.

Investment plans

In order to participate in any future tenders for the manufacture of aluminium-body Vande Bharat trains, the likes of Titagarh Wagons, BHEL, Siemens, and BEML are all looking to expand their production capacity and related infrastructure.

Titagarh Wagons is planning to invest around Rs 300 crore in 2023-24, and Rs 700 crore in the next four years to ramp up the capacity at its upcoming steel-body facility at Uttarpara, in West Bengal.

Similarly, BHEL is looking to invest close to Rs 200 crore in order to expand its R&D facilities, company officials said.

Siemens India and BEML are also evaluating ways in which they can expand their facilities in partnership.

Siemens has invested close to Euro 1 billion in India between 2016-2021, including the acquisition of C&S Electric in 2021 for around Rs 2,100 crore.

Last month, Siemens signed a Rs 26,000 crore contract with Indian Railways to supply and service electric locomotives for freight movement.

As part of the deal, Siemens will deliver 1,200 electric high-capacity power locomotives (9,000 horsepower), and also service them for 35 years.

The locomotives will be assembled at the Indian Railways factory in Dahod, Gujarat.

Vande Bharat

Indian Railways is targeting the roll out of the first sleeper version of Vande Bharat trains by the first quarter of 2024. Till now, the railways have awarded contracts for the manufacture of 102 Vande Bharat trains (all chair cars).

In the 2021-2022 budget, the union government had set an ambitious target to manufacture 400 Vande Bharat trains in India by the end of 2024-25.

Vande Bharat trains are expected to represent a significant upgrade from the premium Rajdhani Express service. The sleeper class variant of these trains will be utilised on overnight routes such as New Delhi-Patna and New Delhi-Lucknow.

After four years of intensive work and planning, the first semi-high speed Vande Bharat trains were launched as electric multiple units (EMU) on the New Delhi-Varanasi and New Delhi-Katra routes.