At ₹4,140 cr, JV led by Siemens lowest bidder for bullet train signalling

The corridor is expected to begin with indigenous bullet trains

A joint venture (JV) of German major Siemens and Indian infrastructure player Dineshchandra R Agrawal Infracon (DRA Infra) has emerged the lowest bidder to provide signalling systems for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor – India’s first ‘bullet train’.

 

According to the government and industry sources in the know, the National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC) -- the central government-owned special purpose vehicle responsible for the project -- opened financial bids from two bidders and declared Siemens-DRA’s ₹4,140 crore to be the lowest.

 

The second lowest and the only other bid was made by a JV of French railway giant Alstom and India’s Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for around ₹12,700 crore, a senior government official said. 

 

The difference in the bids has puzzled industry participants and sector watchers. “The difference between L1 and L2 is huge and very surprising given that both the JVs were led by seasoned engineering procurement construction players. Awaiting more clarity on the reason for such a wide diversion between L1 and L2 bid and the scope of work of Siemens,” said Mohit Kumar from ICICI Securities.

 

After India decided to run indigenously built bullet trains on MAHSR corridor for the first few years, the winner of the contract will have to provide European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2 signaling system, a system both Siemens and Alstom specialise in making, an industry source aware of the developments said. 

 

"So far nothing has been communicated to Siemens JV on the contract awarding, as it is currently with a tender evaluation committee. The process should take a couple of weeks," a government official said.

 

Queries sent to a spokesperson of NHSRC remained unanswered until the time of going to press.

 

“We are one of the bidders. We cannot comment on the award of the contract as it is still under tendering process,” said Siemens in response to this papers queries.

 

The tender was floated in January by NHSRC for the design, manufacture, supply, installation, overall integration, testing commissioning, and comprehensive maintenance, of signalling and train control system, telecommunication system, and operation control center system on the MAHSR project.

 

The indigenous bullet train was conceptualised after the ministry of railways asked Integral Coach Factory, Chennai to build two high-speed rail trainsets which can go up to a speed of 250 kilometres per hour.

 

Last October, state-owned BEML was awarded the contract for the design, manufacturing, and commissioning of two high-speed trainsets, priced at a total value of ₹867 crore. These trains can go up to 280 kilometres per hour.

 

Meanwhile, discussions on which version of the Japanese Shinkansen trainsets will eventually be used on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route along with delays from India in the project’s execution on account of delayed land acquisitions and clearances have deferred the eventual rollout of the corridor till after 2030.