15 entities submit applications for running trains
The applications will now be evaluated by the government and the second stage of the bidding process will be completed by early next year.
As many as 15 companies, including Arvind Aviation, Cube Highways and Infrastructure, Gateway Rail Freight, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects, and state-owned BHEL Ltd, submitted their applications on Wednesday for running modern passenger trains.
Spain-based Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarrriles, S.A, GMR Highways, state-owned Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp. Ltd (IRCTC), Megha Engineering and Infrastructure, RK Associates and Hoteliers, and Welspun Enterprises, have also applied.
The ministry said it received an “excellent response". “In all, 120 applications have been received for the 12 clusters (bunch of routes), from 15 applicant firms." The applications will now be evaluated by the government and the second stage of the bidding process will be completed by early next year, the ministry said.
Indian Railways is gearing up to run 151 high-speed, modern trains across 100 routes, via public-private partnership, to reduce the demand-supply deficit in the passenger transport sector. These train services will start operations in April 2023. The project would entail private sector investment of about ₹30,000 crore.
The private entities will be selected through a two-stage competitive bidding process, request for qualification (RFQ) and request for proposal (RFP). RFQ is for pre-qualification and shortlisting bidders based on their technical and financial capacity. The bidders will have to offer a fixed-price bid at the RFP stage to undertake the project. The RFQ for 12 clusters were opened on 1 July. The trains will operate in 12 clusters, including Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Prayagraj, Howrah and Chennai.
The response is much better than expected, said Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, director and practice lead, transport and logistics, CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory. “Successful completion of this transaction will open up opportunities in other infrastructure sectors and help get the much-needed private capital for infra development," he added.
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