BHEL-Titagarh JV awarded ₹23,000 crore contract for supply of 80 Vande Bharat trains

New Delhi, India (Urban Transport News): Indian Railways has awarded a contract worth Rs 23,000 crore to the consortium of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Titagarh Wagons Limited (TWL) for Manufacturing cum Maintenance of 80 Vande Bharat Trainsets including Up-gradation of the Government Manufacturing Units & Trainset Depot.

"In the prestigious tender for 200 Vande Bharat trains, the BHEL-led consortium emerged as the L2 bidder against stiff competition, and has been awarded a contract for 80 Vande Bharat Trains, valued at more than Rs 23,000 Crore (excluding taxes and duties). The order value comprises supply of trainsets for Rs.9,600 Crore and balance for maintenance of the same for a period of 35 years. This order is a major milestone in the company’s diversification drive," said the office release.

The BHEL-Titagarh Wagon JV will manufacture, test, commission and supply 80 energy efficient Vande Bharat Trains at their manufacturing facilities and at Indian Railways’ ICF-Chennai facility. The trains shall have design/operating speed of 176/160kmph (semi-high speed).

With BHEL being one of the major suppliers of rolling stock electrics to Indian railways, its scope will cover supply of propulsion system, i.e., IGBT-based traction converter-inverter, auxiliary converter, train control management system, motors, transformers, and mechanical bogies. The products shall be manufactured at BHEL’s manufacturing facilities at Bengaluru, Bhopal and Jhansi.

BHEL’s consortium partner Titagarh Wagons Limited, being the rolling stock manufacturer for Indian Metros and Indian Railways, shall be responsible for the mechanical coach building. The final integration, testing, commissioning and maintenance of the trains shall be jointly done by BHEL and TWL.

The BHEL-Titagarh Wagons consortium was the only fully homegrown Indian bidder amongst the five bidders, and is a big step towards achieving the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Both companies are highly committed to provide world class technology to the people of India and contribute to the development of the nation, making it truly self-reliant in the semi-high speed passenger rolling stock segment.

The Indian Railways opened financial bids for Rs 54,000 crore contract package floated for “Manufacturing cum Maintenance of 200 Vande Bharat Trainsets including Up-gradation of the Government Manufacturing Units & Trainset Depot" on March 1, 2023 in New Delhi.

As per financial bids result, a joint venture (JV) of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) with Russian Rolling Stock manufacturer CJSC Transmashholding energed as lowest bidder (L1) by beating other four bidders/consortias such as Alstom Transport, Siemens-BEML JV, Medha Servo Drives-Stadler Rail JV and Titagarh Wagons-BHEL JV.

The Indian Railways has issued the first part of this contract to RVNL-Transmashholding-Mytschi JV for manufactruring of 120 Vande Bharat trains at its Latur facility centre.

The RVNL-Transmashholding consortium had a bid of Rs 120 crore per Vande Bharat train and is looking to manufacture all 200 steel Vande Bharat rakes while the consortium of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and Titagarh Wagons emerged as the second lowest bidder (L2) with a bid of Rs 139.8 crore per train.

The financial status of each bidder was as under:-

• RVNL-Transmashholding-Mytschi JV: Rs 120 crore per train (Rs 24,000 crore) - L1
• Titagarh Wagons-BHEL JV: Rs 139.8 crore per train (Rs 27,960 crore) - L2
• Siemens-BEML JV: Rs 145 crore per train (Rs 29,000 crore) - L3
• Alstom Transport: Rs 164 crore per train (Rs 32,800 crore) - L4
• Medha Servo Drives-Stadler Rail JV: Rs 165 crore per train (Rs 33,000 crore) - L5

The first lowest bidder (L1) RVNL-Transmashholding-Mytschi JV is comprises of three companies namely M/s Joint Stcok Company Metrowagonmash (70%), M/s Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (25%) and M/s Joint Stcok Company Locomotive Electric System (5%).

The technical bids for this contract package were opened on 1st December 2022, with five entities in race for the Rs 58,000-crore contract to manufacture 200 Vande Bharat trains and maintain them for the next 35 years.

While Rs 26,000 crore is the upfront payment on the delivery of the trains, Rs 32,000 crore will be paid to the winning bidder over a period of 35 years for the maintenance of these trains.

Vande Bharat Trains is a engine-less semi-high-speed train with 16 self-propelled coaches. It works on what is called a distributed traction power system, which is increasingly becoming the norm the world over for passenger operations.

At present a total of 15 Vande Bharat trains are being operated on various routes of Indian Railways across the country.