Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) are reportedly in talks for a partnership to run private trains.
The state-run companies might form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to run passenger trains on routes for which IRCTC has put in bids, Business Standard has reported.
However, IRCTC has issued a statement denying the report. "We would like to bring to your notice that Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a PSU of the Ministry of Railways. Currently, IRCTC is neither in any formal talks or has any plans to form JV with BHEL, in near future for any purpose," IRCTC said in a letter to the business daily.
According to the report, BHEL will be putting in the money required for private rail service, while IRCTC is going to focus on operational requirements. "IRCTC’s business model has not been capital expenditure-focussed. It has built only operational enhancements,” an official was quoted as saying in the report.
On July 23, the Ministry of Railways had opened bids for public-private participation (PPP) in the passenger train operations project.
The ministry said it received bids from both the public and private sectors to operate 29 pairs of trains, with an investment of Rs 7,200 crore.
"The ministry of railways has received bids from both private and public sectors to operate 29 pairs of trains with around 40 modern rakes entailing an investment of around Rs 7200 crore. The Ministry of Railways will expeditiously complete the evaluation and decide the bids," an official statement read.
The ministry offered 12 clusters but received only three bids, according to the Business Standard report. Megha Engineering and Infrastructures and IRCTC are the only companies that have participated in the bid round.
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