Six firms vie for Bihar locomotive project
GE, Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens among firms that have expressed interest in fresh bidding
New Delhi: General Electric Co. (GE), Alstom SA, Bombardier Inc., Siemens AG, and China’s CNR Corp. Ltd and CSR Corp. have expressed interest in participating in fresh bids called for setting up an electric locomotive factory at Madhepura in Bihar.
The companies submitted their request for qualification (RFQ) documents for the project on Monday, the last date for submission of bids for the project estimated to cost ₹ 1,293.57 crore. The locomotive factory is among six shortlisted public-private partnership projects being monitored by a steering group set up by the Prime Minister. The group has set a deadline of 30 January for the award of the contract.
The factory is proposed to be set up as a joint venture between Indian Railways and a private locomotive manufacturer to be selected through competitive bidding. Railways will have a 26% stake in the project.
GE, Siemens, CNR and CSR did not respond to email queries.
Some experts said the interest shown by the companies was a positive development; others were more cautious.
“I would have expected Japanese companies which have shown interest in Indian infrastructure projects to have bid. But the fact that such delayed projects are getting bids is to be welcomed," said Vinayak Chatterjee, chairman of the infrastructure consulting and contracting firm Feedback Infra.
Another infrastructure analyst, however, said the interest shown by Chinese firms may make decision-making more difficult for the government in terms of technology and cost. Leaving out these companies may become a diplomatic issue and that might delay decisions on the bid for qualification, this person said, requesting anonymity.
“Chinese technology will be cheaper, but we are not sure of the quality of that technology. We have had a bad experience in the power sector," said a government official, who declined to be named.
The Madhepura project is one of the two controversial projects in Bihar that were first approved in 2006 by then railway minister Lalu Prasad. The other is a project to set up a manufacturing unit for diesel engines in Marhowrah.
GE, Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens were shortlisted in the earlier bidding process for the Madhepura project.
On 1 May, the government asked Indian Railways to invite fresh bids for contracts to manufacture diesel and electric engines through a cabinet decision. “Over a 10-year period, the factory will provide Indian Railways with 800 electric locomotives of 12,000 horsepower each," said a government statement on 1 May after the cabinet approved re-bidding for the project.
The cabinet gave in-principle approval to the two projects in 2006, but only in 2009 did it finally approve the details. Since then, the two projects have courted controversy and allegations of corruption, and the opening of price bids for the electric engine project have been deferred at least eight times
Meanwhile, Indian Railways has fixed 22 September as the last date for the submission of RFQs for setting up a manufacturing unit for diesel locomotives in Marhowrah.
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