Titagarh-BHEL only entirely Indian joint venture among 5 bidders for Vande Bharat contract

23 Feb 2023 , 08:03 AM

The consortium Titagarh Wagons Ltd (TWL) formed with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is the only entirely Indian joint venture among the five bidders for the Rs 72,000 crore Vande Bharat trains contract, according to TWL on Wednesday. The engineering and wagon giant TWL also disclosed that it has planned capex expenditures totaling Rs700 crore for the next four to five years to increase its production capacity and related infrastructure.

According to a senior company executive who talked to ET, the forthcoming steel body facility at Uttarpara in West Bengal will improve TWL’s ability to construct coaches with both aluminum and steel bodies.

‘The business is one of five bidders for Vande Bharat after creating a collaboration with BHEL. We continue to be upbeat. Because both of our partners are Indian, we are the only really Indian consortium ‘In a telephone interview with PTI, TWL director of marketing and business development Prithish Chowdhary stated.

Other bidders include Russian Transmashholding, German Siemens with BEML, Medha Engineering with Swiss business Stadler Rail and Alstom. 

‘While BHEL is the principal partner, the amount of effort is about equal. If we win the contract, the specifics will need to be worked out based on how efficiently each of us can operate ‘said he.

The Vande Bharat tender is for the provision of 200 trains, including their design, production, testing, and commissioning, along with a 35-year maintenance agreement.

200 trains are planned to be constructed in the next three to four years, with a total projected cost of about Rs72,000 crores.

Two bids would compete for this contract, with the lowest bidder receiving 120 trains and the second-lowest receiving 80 trains.

The Indian Railways’ manufacturing facilities will need to construct the trains.

The government is ‘dedicated to Atmanirbhar Bharat (policy) and local manufacturing,’ Chowdhary said, adding that he would not provide a deadline for choosing between the two bids.

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