As the privatization of railway operation in the country is getting a big noise soon big private firms would be operating the trains. The Indian Railways has kick-started from 1st July its privatization plan with the government inviting requests for qualifications (RFQ) from private players.
The bids are invited for running 151 trains in 109 pairs of routes with each train having 16 coaches. Through the bid, the government is looking to attract Rs 30,000 crores of investments. In the first bidding round of December 2019, about 20 companies in infrastructure and transportation business showed interest. The major ones include Adani Ports, Tata Realty and infrastructure, Essel Group, Bombardier India, and Macquarie group.
Adani group already owns one of the largest private railway lines in India that spans 300 km connecting ports and other business hubs. They have also worked with the Ministry of Railways and Metro corporations in different states. The Essel Infraprojects Ltd which is among the 20 firms has been working on the Eastern Freight Corridor connecting Howrah and Chennai main line.
Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd too have experience of working in the railways sector with the qualification of their proposal for the Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro in Pune. Among foreign bidders are German firm Bombardier which is one of the largest locomotive suppliers to Delhi Metro. They have also won the contract to supply 210 commuter and metro cars for the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System.
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Next in the list is the French infrastructure major Alstom. The company is working on the metro rail projects of Chennai, Kochi and Lucknow. It is also supplying locomotives that are manufactured at its facility in Andhra Pradesh. The company also has manufacturing facilities in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India. While bidders among them would be getting some big routes new players would join in during this 2nd round of bidding.
Inputs from Moneycontrol.com
