Marking first major FDI offer in the railways, three global companies have submitted financial bids for setting up of a modern electrical locomotive factory in Madhepura in Bihar at the cost of nearly Rs 1300 crore.
Siemens, Alstom and Bombardier have submitted price bids for setting up the factory in a joint venture model to manufacture 80 state-of-the-art locos per year at an estimated cost of Rs 1296 cr, said a senior Railway Ministry official.
The bids will be evaluated by the tendering committee and the lowest bidder will be announced by September-end.
While railways will have 26 per cent equity, the successful bidder will have 74 per cent equity in the JV project.
Though General Electric had shown interest in the project at the initial stage, it opted out of the price bid later.
Dubbed as first major project under 'Make in India' initiative in the public transporter, the successful bidder will manufacture 800 locomotives after getting contract award in Bihar.
While 5 locos will be imported, the rest 795 will be manufactured at Madhepura as part of the project. Maintenance of the locos will also be the responsibility of the company and for this it will set up two maintenance sheds at Nagpur and Sharanpur.
The factory will produce locos with 12,000 horse power required for heavy hauling of goods in a faster speed on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor. Currently 6000 HP electric locos are operational in the rail network.
