The Indian Railways recently decided to cancel a significant tender worth Rs 30,000 crore that involved the manufacturing and maintenance of 100 aluminium-body Vande Bharat trains with Alstom India. This decision was confirmed by Alstom India MD Olivier Loison, who mentioned that while the order was cancelled, the company is prepared to support the project in the future if the need arises.
The cancellation of the tender was reportedly influenced by the tender panel's assessment that Alstom India's bidding price of Rs 150.9 crore per train was considered too high, prompting them to suggest a cap of Rs 140 crore per train. In contrast, Alstom India was aiming to close the deal at Rs 145 crore per train set, which would have made them the lowest bidder for the tender. The competitors in this bidding process included a consortium comprising Swiss manufacturer Stadler Rail and Hyderabad-based Medha Servo Drives, who submitted a bid of Rs 170 crore per train set.
According to reports, a previous contract for manufacturing 200 Vande Bharat sleeper train sets was awarded at a rate of Rs 120 per rake. To encourage competition and ensure competitive pricing, officials emphasized that future tenders would involve multiple players, unlike the recent one that only had two participants. Eligibility criteria for potential bidders include having a research and development (R&D) facility to construct a prototype and the ability to assemble a minimum of five train sets annually. If selected, the winning bidder is slated to receive Rs 13,000 crore upon the delivery of the train sets, with the remaining Rs 17,000 crore allocated for maintenance over a span of 35 years.