Fresh domestic tender invited for procurement of 44 new Vande Bharat Trains

New Delhi, India: Indian Railways on 21st September 2020 floated a revised tender for procurement of 3-phase propulsion, control and other equipment along with bogies for 44 semi-high speed Vande Bharat train sets. The estimated value of the procurement plan could be between Rs 2,500-3,000 crore. Meanwhile, it is being said the present tender for 44 such kits would be worth over an amount of Rs 1,500 crore.

According to the Indian Railways, the revised tender is in line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Central Government. In this tender, the minimum local content percentage has been revised to 75% and it is the first big tender floated under revised norms of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under Government of India’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat.

A pre-bid meeting is scheduled for 29th September 2020 and the tender will be opened on 17th November 2020 and the two-stage, the reverse auction shall take place.

According to new plans, the new Vande Bharat train sets shall be manufactured at Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai; Modern Coach Factory (MCF), Raebareli and Rail Coach Factory (RCF), in Kapurthala.

The upcoming new Vande Bharat Trains will have Chair Car type coaches, specially designed for day travel. These trains will also offer many modern facilities such as mobile/laptop charging sockets, automatic plug doors with retractable footsteps, CCTVs, in-coach displays, speakers, GPS antenna, luggage racks with reading lamps, modular pantry equipment, etc.

The first two Vande Bharat Express (Train 18) that were launched last year saw an expense of Rs 100 crore, of which Rs 35 crore alone was for the train’s propulsion system.