The Indian Railways plans to launch 44 semi-high speed trains and has started the bidding process for the same.
The Ministry of Railways on Friday started the bidding process for 44 train sets to be run as luxurious Vande Bharat Express.
Train 18, which was launched last year as the first Vande Bharat, was made by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai. Currently, there are two semi-high speed Vande Bharat trains, running runs between New Delhi and Varanasi, and between New Delhi and Katra.
The Indian Railways plans to launch 44 more such trains and has started bidding process for the same. Under the financial bidding process, six big companies have submitted their bids.
The tender has been issued for procuring propulsion systems or electric traction kits for 44 trains to function as the Vande Bharat Express or Train 18.
Indigenously built Train 18 was launched at an expense of Rs 100 crore out of which Rs 35 crore was for the propulsion system alone. Considering this, the tender or 44 such kits would be worth over Rs 1,500 crore, reports said.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, New Delhi; Bharat Industries, Sangrur; CRRC Pioneer Electric India Pvt Ltd, Rewari; Electrowaves Electronics Pvt Ltd, Parwanoo; Medha Servo Drives Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad, and PowerNetics Equipment Pvt Ltd, Navi Mumbai have shown interest in the proposal.
One of the companies that have shown interest has a Chinese connection. According to reports, CRRC Corporation with its office at Rewari in Haryana is a joint venture between Chinese state-owned CRRC Corporation and a Gurugram-based company.
Earlier on January 1, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal had said that the Ministry of Railways will purchase 44 rakes of Vande Bharat.
"Dedicated to providing excellent transport facilities to passengers, the Railways will now purchase 44 rakes of Vande Bharat Express. This rake will be made under Make in India and equipped with modern facilities like automatic doors, coach display, luggage rack, LED, mobile charging point, CCTV and will also save time," Goyal had said.
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 "File Photo: New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express was launched in Feb, 2019")
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