Alstom, a prominent French railroad company, submitted the lowest offer for the production and maintenance of 100 Vande Bharat trainsets made of aluminium, with a total estimated value of Rs. 30,000 crores. The firm, which is a significant participant in the Indian railway and urban transport industries, offered Rs 150.99 crore as the price to produce one trainset. A collaboration made up of the Swiss rolling stock manufacturer Stadler Rail and the Indian company Medha Servo came in second with a proposal of Rs 169.9 crore. On February 23, technical bids for the tender were opened, and only these two players were selected.
The basic manufacturing cost, which is expected to cost close to Rs 17,000 crore, would be paid upon delivery of the trainsets, according to estimates shared by authorities. The remaining amount will be paid for maintenance over a 35-year period. Earlier this year, Alstom was unsuccessful in obtaining the massive order for 200 stainless steel Vande Bharat trains. This approximately Rs 151 crore per trainset offer for the production of the stainless steel Vande Bharat trainsets, to be produced by a partnership between Russia's Transmashholding (TMH) and the state-owned Rail Vikas Nigam Limited(RVNL), is over Rs 30 crore higher.
"Alstom has given a price in this tender that is Rs 30 crore more per train than the stainless steel Vande trains. If the price increase is justified by the increased speed capabilities of 200 kmph and energy efficiency, we will have to wait and see. The fact that the Indian Railways do not currently have any tracks capable of supporting this speed must be kept in mind, according to Sudhanshu Mani, a former general manager of Integral Coach Factory and one of the main engineers behind Vande Bharat. The first Hindalco-built aluminium rake in India was ceremoniously launched earlier this year by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Aluminium rakes are better capable of handling greater speeds and are lighter than stainless steel rakes, according to railwaymen and specialists. In contrast, Vande Bharat works using distributed traction power through self-propelled coaches, which has very different engineering needs than goods trains and necessitate the use of considerably more sophisticated manufacturing processes. Alstom purposefully priced the proposal with a lower price point for the aluminium trains compared to its bid for steel trains, which is another intriguing feature. This indicates that the business put itself up to obtain the contract for the aluminium train," Mani added.
When the tender for the 200 trains was announced earlier this year, Alstom's offer was nowhere near the top. Currently, Vande Bharat trains only have seats available, which restricts their ability to travel over large distances. The introduction of sleeper-class Vande Bharat trains, as announced by Vaishnaw, is anticipated to move closer with 300 Vande Bharat trains now in the works for the Indian Railways. Early in 2024, the national transporter plans to introduce the first sleeper, Vande Bharat.
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