IRCTC may tie up with BHEL for running passenger trains
BHEL will be putting in the money, while IRCTC will focus on operational matters, according to a news report
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which has bid for running passenger trains, has roped in Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) for a partnership in this regard.
The two public sector undertakings (PSUs) are planning to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to run passenger trains on routes for which IRCTC has put in bids, Business Standard quoting officials reported.
IRCTC bid
State-run IRCTC was the sole bidder for the Mumbai-2 cluster where it asked for a revenue share of 18%. For Delhi-1, IRCTC and Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL), a Hyderabad-based firm, quoted revenue shares to the tune of 15.3% and 2.16%, respectively. IRCTC and MEIL’s quote for revenue shares for Delhi-2 stood at 6.3% and 0.54%.
BHEL will be putting in the money required for private rail service, while IRCTC is going to focus on operational requirements, the news report said.
Passenger trains on PPP mode
The government has ambitious plans to run passenger trains on PPP mode. The Ministry of Railways had earlier said that the bids for PPP in passenger train operations were opened on July 23, It received bids to operate 29 pairs of trains with approximately 40 modern rakes. The bids had come from both the public and private sector and involved an investment of around Rs 7,200 crore, the Ministry added.
Competitive bidding
Bids were invited for 12 clusters which comprised 150 origin-destination pairs of routes. The total investment was pegged at around Rs 30,000 crores and over 12 firms had qualified for placing their bids.
Mumbai-1, Chandigarh, Howrah, Patna, Prayagraj, Secunderabad, Jaipur, Chennai and Bengaluru got zero financial bids.
The process for financial bids has started after competitive bidding which included a Request for Qualification (RFQ) and a Request for Proposal (RFP). The process of these concessions is being run by RITES Ltd, a state-run transport engineering consultant.
As many as 120 applications were received from 16 firms. Out of these, 102 were deemed eligible for participation in the RFP stage for introducing 151 modern trains. Eleven applicants had qualified for participation in the RFP stage for the Mumbai-2 cluster, while nine and 10 applicants had qualified for the clusters of Delhi-1 and Delhi-2
Some of the notable firms which had qualified to place bids include GMR Highways, Cube Highways and Infrastructure III Pte, Welspun Enterprises, state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd and Spain’s CAF Group’s consortium.