In the tender of Indian Railways, 15 companies had shown interest for 12 clusters. Only 2 companies were left in the financial bid for the tender for private trains.
New Delhi. In the case of private trains, Indian Railways has suffered a major setback. The Ministry of Railways has decided to re-evaluate tenders worth Rs 30,000 crore for private trains. Actually, there was no good response from private companies for the private train tender. This tender process was started in July 2020. In the initial phase, applications were received from 15 companies for 12 clusters. However, only two companies were left for the financial bid.
Which two companies left for the financial bid in
the tender for private trains are Welspun Enterprises Limited, Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited, IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited, Gateway Rail Freight Limited, Cube Highways & Infrastructure Private Limited, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Limited, BHEL and IRCTC had initially shown interest. Clusters were expected to be given by the Ministry of Railways by February 2021. The process got delayed and only two companies Megha Engineering and IRCTC were left with the opening of the financial bids in July 2021.
Will the Ministry of Railways bring a new private train tender
Officials said that the ministry is now reconsidering the tender process due to low stake from private companies. A fresh tender can be floated after deliberation. There was an estimated investment of Rs 30,000 crore from private companies in this project. In this, the manufacturing of trains was to be done within the country and the private company was to be given the responsibility of financing, procurement,
operations and maintenance of the trains. The drivers and guards in these trains were to be of Indian Railways. On behalf of the private company, the Railways had to pay fixed haulage charges, energy charges and share in the gross revenue settled through bidding.
