Indian Railways floats tender for 200 aluminum-body next-generation Vande Bharat Trains

New Delhi, India (Urban Transport News): The national transporter Indian Railways has issued tender notice for procurement of 200 next-generation Vande Bharat trains which will be the first-of-their-kind in India as they will be light-weight aluminium bodied and can run at a maximum speeds of 200 km/hour.

Urban Transport News has reviewed the tender documents invited by the Indian railways recently in two batches of 100 trains each. The delivery deadline is fixed at minimum 30 trains to be delivered in the first year, 40 in the second year and 50 trains from the third year onwards.

These recent tenders for procuremnt of next-generation sleeper trains follow tenders for 200 third-generation Vande Bharat trains floated in April 2022 and whose deadline was recently extended till October 2022. For the most recent tenders, companies have been given time till November 2022 to submit their bids.

These tenders kick-start the announcement made by the government earlier this year to roll out 400 Vande Bharat trains by the end of 2024-25. While companies were given the choice between either steel or aluminium coaches in the tenders for 200 trains issued in April, the recent tenders specify the 200 other trains have to be light-weight aluminium bodied as well as energy-efficient.

"We expect manufacturers to take around 18-20 months to come up with a prototype before they can start the series production. In order to complete the order in a timely manner, it is important to award the tender as soon as possible," said an official in the Ministry of Railways.

Key Information

• Tender Notice No: 2022/RS(WTA)-149/Tender/532
• Name of Work: Manufacturing cum Maintenance of New Generation Energy Efficient Vande Bharat Trainsets with Concentrated Power System including upgradation of the Government Manufacturing Units & Trainset Depots.
• Approximate cost of work: INR 13,000 crores
• EMD: INR 20 Crore
• Document Download / Sale Start Date: 15th July, 2022
• Document Download / Sale End Date: 25th November, 2022
• Pre-bid Meeting: 23rd August, 2022
• Bid Submission Start Date: 15th July, 2022
• Bid Submission End Date: 25th November, 2022
• Bid Opening Date: 25th November, 2022