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Kolkata-based private firm M/s Titagarh Rail Systems Limited (earlier Titagarh Wagons Limited), has been awarded the contract to supply 24 Metro trains for Phase I of Surat Metro, at a contract price of Rs 866 crore, sources in Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) said.
Interestingly, the company that won a contract to jointly manufacture Vande Bharat trains with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), was the lone bidder for the tender floated by GMRC to supply 24 Metro train sets (a total of 72 Metro cars) for Surat Metro Phase 1, which is targeted to be commissioned by December 2024.
“We have issued an LoA (letter of acceptance) to the company. It has been given 70 weeks to deliver the first two trains,” Pushkar Singla, General Manager and Chief Public Relations Officer of GMRC, said.
Titagarh Wagons will supply the coaches at a rate of Rs 12.02 crore (per coach), including spares. The cost, however, does not include taxes, said sources in GMRC. The project is a 50:50 joint venture between Gujarat and the Union governments.
Defending the selection of the lone bidder, Singla said, “If the lone bidder has the required competence then we can award the tender.”
Other GMRC officials that The Indian Express spoke to said other tenders for Surat Metro, including those for viaduct, stations and traction, were at an advanced stage. They added that if the rolling stock tender had to be discontinued or withdrawn, it will not allow sufficient time to receive the rolling stock in Surat for integration with the signalling and traction system and the trials in time before the proposed commencement of operations by December 2024.
The selected company will design, manufacture, supply, test and commission the trains that are expected to operate in a three-coach configuration for Surat Metro, which is being partly funded by French Development Agency, AFD (Agence Francaise de Developpemet) and German Development Bank – KFW (Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau).
The tender for the rolling stock for Surat Metro was floated in November 2021 and the last date for submission of bids was extended at least four times. Sources said that in case of retendering, the cost of raw materials and manpower will also escalate.
As per Rule 166 of the General Financial Rules, 2017, of the Ministry of Finance, procurement from a single source can be resorted only under three circumstances — when the user department knows that “only a particular firm is the manufacturer of the required goods”; in a case of emergency “when the required goods are to be purchased from a particular source and the reason for such decision is to be recorded and approval of the competent authority obtained” and “for standardisation of machinery or spare parts to be compatible to the existing sets of equipment (on advice of a competent technical expert and approved by the competent authority)”.
However, the cost of the trains finalised for Surat Metro seem to be on a higher side when compared to trains being bought by Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited for Metro projects in Bhopal and Indore. Alstom will be supplying 52 train sets (156 cars) to Madhya Pradesh, with each car manufactured at Savli in Gujarat, costing Rs 9.45 crore.
It is, however, not clear why Alstom — which has a manufacturing unit at Savli — did not participate in the GMRC bid, despite being present in the pre-bid meetings.
This is the second time that GMRC has ordered Metro trains for projects in Gujarat. In 2017, South Korean firm Hyundai Rotem was awarded the contract to supply 32 trains (96 coaches) for Phase-1 of the Ahmedabad Metro project. All of these trains were imported and supplied via sea route to Gujarat. In 2017, the tender was awarded to Hyundai Rotem, despite Bombardier (used to own the Metro train manufacturing plant at Savli in Vadodara) participating in the bidding process.
“The coaches supplied by Titagarh will be made of steel and will be advanced as far as technology is concerned. Compared to Ahmedabad Metro that has a side evacuation for emergencies, the coaches manufactured by Titagarh will have a front evacuation where a ramp will go down from the drivers cabin to evacuate passengers,” said Singla. The Union government approved the Surat Metro project in March 2019. The project, having two Metro rail corridors, was expected to be completed in five years at an estimated cost of Rs 12,020 crore.
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