BackRailways may award Kanchrapara coach project to Bhel
Railways may award Kanchrapara coach project to Bhel
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New Delhi: The Indian Railways has mooted an internal proposal to award the proposed Kanchrapara rail coach factory project in West Bengal, to Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel) on a nomination basis. Two senior railway officials in direct knowledge of the matter have independently said this.
“This is as yet a proposal. We need Bhel to formally come back to us on this," one of the two officials said.
A Bhel spokesperson declined to comment.
In 2010, the Railways had shortlisted eight bidders for the project. These include Bombardier Transportation India, Alstom India, Siemens AG, Construccionesy Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF), Hyundai-Rotem, Stadler Rail with Titagarh Wagons and ABB, Hitachi and Kawasaki Heavy Industries with Texmaco.
The railway official cited earlier said that if the project is awarded on a nomination basis, the bidding process will be canceled.
This official, however, refused to comment on why the Railways was keen on doing away with an open tender process, and take the nomination route.
On 13 October 2009, Mint had first reported that Bhel could be involved in the project, which will have an annual capacity of 500 coaches.
The official said that while the total project cost had not been calculated, manufacturing each coach costs Rs2.78 crore.
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