₹30k-cr pvt trains’ tender on hold: Rlys
Of the 12 clusters where the plan was to be put in motion, there are two clusters each in Delhi and Mumbai, and one cluster each in Secunderabad, Chennai, Howrah, Jaipur, Prayagraj, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, and Patna
NEW DELHI: The railway ministry has decided to put on hold the tender for running 151 private trains along 109 major routes with an estimated investment of ₹30,000 crore and will revaluate the process mainly due to tepid response from private firms, according to officials aware of the development.
“The tender for the private trains has been put on hold and the entire process will be re-evaluated due to lower participation from private firms. Railways will issue a fresh tender,” a senior ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
Of the 12 clusters put up for bidding, only three received any bids at all, the official added.
An India Railways spokesperson would only say that “the evaluation process is on”.
The national carrier, on July 1, 2020, began the formal process of allowing private trains on 109 routes — a process that aimed to, for the first time, open up one of the government’s most prominent enterprises to private participation. However, only two bidders, the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Megha Engineering & Infrastructures evinced interest in the financial bidding stage. IRCTC, majority-owned by government, was touted to get the contract after quoting a higher revenue share figure. This, officials said, raised questions on the purpose of running trains via private firms.
According to the ministry, the planned investment was estimated around ₹30,000 crore, and a majority of the rakes (70%) required will have to be manufactured in India; private entities cleared to run the train services shall be responsible for financing, procuring, operating and maintaining the trains. Winning bidders were to be provided a concession period of 35 years.
The first dozen private trains were due to start running in the 2023-24 financial year and all 151 were to be operational by 2027. According to the railway ministry’s projections, the transporter was supposed to select companies by April . The schedule for operations was: the first 12 by 2023-24; 45 more in FY 2024-25; the next 50 in FY 2025-26; and the last 44 by 2026-27.
The ministry last year issued what is known as a request for qualification (RFQ) for private companies to run 151 trains spread over these routes, laying down specific conditions that will need to be met in a move that it hoped would “introduce modern technologies and world class services”.
Of the 12 clusters across Indian Railways’s network where the plan was to be put in motion, there are two clusters each in Delhi and Mumbai, and one cluster each in Secunderabad, Chennai, Howrah, Jaipur, Prayagraj, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, and Patna.
In October last year, the Indian Railways received a total of 120 applications from 15 firms including L&T, GMR and Welspun in response to its Request for Quotation.
The firms which made the applications for the clusters included Arvind Aviation, BHEL, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarrriles, S.A, Cube Highways and Infrastructure III Pvt Ltd and Gateway Rail Freight Limited among others.
THE RAILWAY MINISTRY HAS DECIDED TO RE-EVALUATE THE PROCESS MAINLY DUE TO TEPID RESPONSE FROM PRIVATE FIRMS