Railways scraps tender for 44 Vande Bharat trains after bid from Chinese joint venture
Chinese firm CRRC Pioneer Electric (India) Private Limited had emerged as the only foreign player for the project in July.
The Ministry of Railways on Friday said that it has cancelled the tender to manufacture 44 semi high-speed Vande Bharat trains. The decision came a month after a Chinese joint venture emerged as the only foreign bidder for the project. There were six other contenders for the project.
“Tender for manufacturing of 44 semi high speed train sets (Vande Bharat) has been cancelled,” the Ministry of Railways said in a tweet. “Fresh tender will be floated within a week as per Revised Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) order.”
Tender for manufacturing of 44 nos of semi high speed train sets (Vande Bharat) has been cancelled.
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) August 21, 2020
Fresh tender will be floated within a week as per Revised Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) order.
A Chinese joint venture firm named CRRC Pioneer Electric (India) Private Limited had emerged as the only foreign player to provide electrical and other supplies for 44 train sets of 16 coaches each in July, according to PTI. The joint venture was formed in 2015 between CRRC Yongji Electric Company Limited and Gurugram-based Pioneer Fil-med Private Limited.
The Railways’ Integral Coach Factory in Chennai had floated the tender to make the trains on July 10. The other five bidders for the project were Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, the Bharat Industries, Sangrur, Powernetics Equipment India Private Limited, the MEDHA Servo Drives Private Limited and the Electrowaves Electronics Limited, PTI reported, citing the Railways.
Unidentified officials told PTI that the Railways wanted to ensure that project to manufacture the trains went to an Indian firm.
The first Vande Bharat train from Delhi to Varanasi was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February last year. Home Minister Amit Shah launched the second train between Delhi and Vaishno Devi Katra in October.
In July, the Railways had also scrapped a tender for thermal cameras for coronavirus surveillance after Indian firms complained that the tender favoured Chinese businesses.
India has been trying to restrict trade with China after the a violent clash between the armies of the two countries along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh in June. Twenty Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers were killed in the clash on June 15, which was the worst instance of violence between the two countries in over 40 years. India had also banned 59 Chinese apps on June 29, including the hugely-popular TikTok.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had said last month that China will not be allowed to participate in highway projects in India.
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