SAIL monopoly broken but Railways still short of rail, floats fresh tender

SAIL had been widely criticised over short-supply of steel, compared to its yearly contracts with railways

The Indian Railways is likely to float a fresh tender to procure rail of 200,000 tonnes worth over Rs 10 billion, to meet the targets on its safety-related works such as track renewal.

This comes after the national transporter placed a developmental order of Rs 5.36 billion for 100,000 tonnes rail on Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) as part of a global tender. However, the remaining bidders, including Sumitomo Corporation, Angang Group International, Voestalpine Schienen, East Metals, CRM Hong Kong, British Steel France Rail and Atlantic Steel, were edged out since they did not meet the specifications according to Indian standards.