GMR, Sterlite, Bharat Forge, Bombardier among bidders for private trains

At least 16 players, including the GMR Group, Sterlite Power, RITES, Bharat Forge, JKB Infrastructure, Medha Group, R K Associates, Bombardier, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) participated in a pre-application conference of interested bidders for the private train project held on Tuesday.

However, the meeting was marked by the notable absence of Tata and Adani Group, which were believed to be the frontrunners for the private train bids. The project is expected to bring in private investments to the tune of around Rs 30,000 crore. "The conference received an overwhelming response with participation of around 16 prospective applicants," the Indian Railways said in a statement.  However, the Railways did not reveal the names of the companies that participated in the meeting.

The Ministry of Railways has invited 12 requests for qualifications for private participation in the operation of passenger train services over 109 Origin Destination pair of routes through the introduction of 151 modern trains (rakes) which shall be in addition to the existing trains operated on the network. This is the first initiative involving private investment for running passenger trains over the Indian railway network.

"The initiative is aimed at improving the availability of transportation services to the people of this nation, introducing modern technology rolling stock and services that would improve the overall travel experience of passengers. Multiple operators in train operations will create competition and improve service delivery. This initiative is also intended to reduce the demand-supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector," the railways statement added.

The private entities for the projected will be selected through a two-stage competitive bidding process comprising Request for Qualification (RFQ) and Request for Proposal (RFP). The issues and concerns raised by the prospective applicants were discussed and clarifications were provided by the officials of the Ministry of Railways and NITI Aayog for improved clarity on the provisions of RFQ and bidding framework. The queries were mainly related to eligibility criteria, bid process, procurement of rakes, operations of trains and composition of clusters. There were already concerns regarding the plan to operate these trains at a maximum speed of 160 kilometer per hour (kmph), as the Indian railway tracks are not suited for the same speed.

"The major projects lined up include the commissioning of the dedicated freight corridor by December 2021, upgrading of high-density networks (HDN) to 130 kilometer per hour (kmph) by March 2023, doubling and electrification of all HDN and highly utilised networks (HUN) by March 2024 and further upgrading all HDN routes to 160 kmph capacity by March 2025,"  the Railway Board chairman  V K Yadav told the media last week.

The companies also raised queries on haulage charges to which the Ministry of Railways replied that haulage charges will be specified upfront and will be suitably indexed for the entire concession period thereby bringing certainty in the haulage charges.

Ministry of Railways will also be providing the details of passenger traffic being handled on the routes under biding. This will enable bidders to undertake their due diligence in the project

Ministry of Railways has clarified that trains to be operated under the project can be either purchased or taken on lease by the private entities. Ministry of Railways has also clarified that risks with regard to the operation of trains shall be allocated to the parties in an equitable manner. The ministry will be providing written replies to the queries received from the prospective applicants by July 31. The second pre-application conference is scheduled on August 12.