The Mantra of
Decentralization, Deregulation and Delegation of Powers to the Cutting Edge
Functionaries Initiated by Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in
a Big way Helped Expedite the Awarding of LOA.
The Project
Would Ensure Indigenization Making it a True Make in India Proposition
A Joint
Venture Company Between Ministry of Railways and M/S Alstom Manufacturing India
Limited will be Created to Construct and Operate the Factory
The Factory
Would Manufacture and Supply Modern Electric Locomotives of High Horse Power
Namely 12000 Hp
Total Number
of 800 Electric Locos to be Procured in a Period of 11 Years
The Basic
Cost of 800 Locos will be About 19000 Crore
These Modern
Powerful Locos will be Useful for Heavy Haul Freight Operations and Mega
Freight Operations in the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and Pan India
Operation
The Factory
Would Lead to Substantial Development of Ancillary Manufacturing Units,
Generation of Direct and Indirect Employment and Substantial Development in the
Region
The Fair,
Transparent and Competitive Bidding Process Adopted in Selecting the JV Partner
Receives Wide-Spread Appreciation by All Stakeholders
Indian
Railways has issued the Letter of Award (L.O.A.) for setting up of Electric
Locomotive Factory (ELF) at Madhepura in Bihar to a France-based
company M/s Alstom Manufacturing India Limited. This new factory will supply
800 high horse power (12000 hp) electric locomotive over a period of 11 years.
The
project would bring in an investment of Rs 1300 crore for setting of the
factory and also the maintenance facilities. It would also entail procurement
of 800 High horse Power (12000 HP) locomotives costing about Rs. 19,000 crore
(exclusive of Taxes and Duties).
Although
the tenders do not come to the Railway Minister, the mantra of
decentralization, deregulation and delegation of powers to the cutting edge
functionaries initiated by Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in
a big way helped expedite the awarding of LOA.
A
joint venture company between Ministry of Railways and M/s Alstom Manufacturing
India Limited will now be incorporated and agreement between the two will be
signed within the next 30 days. This JV shall construct and run ELF Madhepura.
Ministry of Railway will hold 26 per cent equity in JV Company subject to a
maximum of Rs.100 crore. The proto-type locomotives are to be delivered in the
coming two years and the factory is to be set up within a period of three years
from signing of the Agreement.
The
project requires only five electric locomotives to be imported. The balance 795
locomotives are to be manufactured in India. The contract provides suitable
economic drivers which would ensure complete indigenization of the
manufacturing which in turn will lead to substantial development of ancillary
manufacturing units and indigenization of the locomotives making it a true
‘Make in India’ proposition. The project would also lead to development of the
region where the factory would be set up and also those where the maintenance
facilities would be set up. In sum, the project would bring in substantial
development in these areas and also lead to generation of direct and indirect
employment.
The
project would also enable Indian Railways to have a fleet of locomotives
equipped with state of the art propulsion technology. These High Horse Power
(12000 HP) locomotives would be a quantum leap over the existing 6000 HP
locomotives used for freight operations. These locomotives are planned for use
in the Eastern DFC and also for Pan India operations for hauling freight trains
of 6000 Tonnes at 100 kmph and improve the average speed of such trains to
around 50-60 kmph over the existing 25-30 kmph. The quantum jump in the
operating parameters would lead to substantial increase in the throughput and
also enhance line capacity. These locomotives, equipped with state of art IGBT,
based propulsion technology, would lead to considerable savings in energy
consumption due to use of regenerative braking.
Earlier
Indian Railways had issued L.O.A. for setting up of Diesel
Locomotive Factor (DLF) to M/s GE Global Sourcing India Pvt. Ltd. for
manufacturing and supply of 1000 Diesel locos at about Rs.14,656 crores in a
period of ten years with establishment of factory costing about Rs.1000 crores.
These
two big ticket projects at Marhowra and Madhepura will usher in inflow of
substantial FDI in Indian rail sector.
The entire bid process has been conducted in a fair,
transparent and competitive manner which has drawn international attention. The
simplified bidding process adopted for a complex project of this magnitude has
also been appreciated by all stakeholders. The efforts made by Ministry of
Railways in this direction has received wide appreciation.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION : -
The
Cabinet had approved setting up of Electric Locomotive Factory in Madhepura
(Bihar) in Feb.’ 2007. The factory is to be set up through Joint Venture (JV)
Route with a 26% equity of the Ministry of Railways in the JV.
The
Joint Venture Partner was to be selected through an international competitive
bidding process. Following which the selected partner was to set up a
manufacturing facility at Madhepura (Bihar) for manufacturing electric
locomotives. Ministry of Railways would procure 800 High horse Power (12000
HP) electric locomotives over a period of eleven years from the aforesaid
facility. The Joint Venture Company would also be required to undertake
maintenance of 500 electric locomotives at two locations for a specified
period.
For
fulfillment of the above objective, Ministry of Railways decided to conduct a
two stage bidding process comprising of Request For Qualification (RFQ) for
short-listing of bidders and Request For Proposal (RFP) for obtaining financial
bid for selection of a suitable JV partner through International Competitive
Bidding. The standard RFQ and the RFP documents of the Ministry of Finance were
used in the process. The Cabinet had approved the bidding documents comprising
of Request For Proposal and the Procurement-cum-Maintenance Agreement (PCMA) in
Jan.’ 2014.
The
Request For Qualification for the present bid was initiated in May, 2013 and
the process concluded by way of short-listing of bidders in May, 2014.
Following bidders were shortlisted for the project:-
ELF,
Madhepura Poject.
(a)
Alstom Manufacturing India Ltd.
(b)
Bombardier Transportation India Ltd.
(c)
GE Global Sourcing Ltd.
(d)
Siemens Locomotives, Germany.
The
RFP documents were issued to the short-listed bidders inviting financial bids
on Feb 27, 2015. Two pre-bid meetings were held during the process and
subsequently, the financial bids were received on 31st Aug., 2015.
After
detailed evaluation of the bids, Ministry of Railways had declared Alstom
Manufacturing India Limited as the selected bidder
The entire bid process has been conducted in a fair,
transparent and competitive manner which has drawn international attention. The
simplified bidding process adopted for a complex project of this magnitude has
also been appreciated by all stakeholders. The efforts made by Ministry of
Railways in this direction has received wide appreciation.
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AKS/MN/DK