Rlys places order for 39K wheels from Chinese firm

NEW DELHI: Even after the Indian government imposed restrictions on investments and supplies from Chinese companies, following the Galwan valley standoff with the northern neighbour, in a significant development, the Indian government informed the Parliament that a purchase order for 39,000 wheels for LHB coaches has been placed by the Indian Railways with Chinese manufacturer Taiyuan.

In a reply to an Unstarred question by Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha member Mala Roy, the rail minister Ashwini Vaishnaw mentioned in the Lower House that, due to the present crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the order has been placed with “Hong Kong-based M/s TZ (Taizhong), with manufacturer M/s Taiyuan, China against Global Tender.”

The rate on which the contract was placed was 1.68 per cent higher than the rate per wheel given in the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) by a Ukrainian firm, the Railway Ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the supplies against the ongoing contracts with the firms from Russia and Ukraine have been affected.”

“Earlier, LoA for 30,000 wheels for LHB coaches was issued on M/s KLW with a manufacturer based in Ukraine.

Subsequently, M/s KLW invoked the force majeure clause due to its inability to supply on account of the war, so formal purchase order could not be issued to the Ukrainian firm,” the rail minister added.

Earlier, reportedly, Chinabased Hikvision had bid on many tenders issued by RailTel for closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.