Alstom emerges as lowest bidder for 100 alluminium Vande Bharat trains.

French railway major Alstom has emerged as the lowest bidder for manufacture and maintenance of 100 aluminium Vande Bharat trainsets, valued at Rs. 30,000 crore, Business Standard has learnt.

The company, which is a major player in the Indian railway and urban transport sector, bid Rs. 150.99 crore as the cost to manufacture one trainset, followed by a consortium of Swiss rolling stock company Stadler Rail and India’s Medha Servo, which quoted Rs. 169.9 crore to build one trainset.

Technical bids for the tender were opened on February 23, with only these two players making it cut. According to estimates communicated by officials, the basic manufacturing cost would be paid upon delivery of the trainsets, while the remaining portion of close to Rs. 17,000 crore would be paid for maintenance for a period of 35 years.

Alstom earlier this year lost out on the mega order for 200 stainless steel Vande Bharat trains. This nearly Rs 151-crore per trainset bid for aluminium Vande Bharat is Rs. 30 crore more than the lowest bid made for each stainless steel Vande Bharat trainset, to be made by a consortium of Russia’s Transmashholding (TMH) and state-owned Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL).

“Alstom has quoted a price of Rs. 30 crore more per train in this tender when compared to the stainless steel Vande trains. We will have to wait and see if that price increase is justified based on a higher speed capability of 200 kmph and energy efficiency. It must keep in focus that the Indian Railways has no track for this speed and it is not even planned, as of now,” said Sudhanshu Mani, former general manager at Integral Coach Factory and one of the core engineers behind Vande Bharat.

Earlier this year, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off India’s first aluminium rake built by Hindalco. According to railwaymen and experts, aluminium rakes are more competent to handle higher speeds and are lighter than stainless steel rakes.

BS