Alstom wins the bid to manufacture 100 aluminium Vande Bharat trains

Alstom, a French rolling stock manufacturer that operates in rail transport markets throughout the globe, has won the INR 30,000 crore deal for the building and maintenance of 100 Vande Bharat trains with aluminium bodies.Alstom submitted a price of INR  151 crore per trainset, 11 per cent less than the second lowest bid of INR 169 crore/trainset submitted by the Staddler and Medha consortium.

This offer was for the production of 100 aluminium Vande Bharat rakes. The successful bidder for the INR 30,000 crore contracts to produce and maintain 100 aluminium Vande Bharat trains would earn INR 13,000 crore upon delivery, with a further INR  17,000 crore payable over 35 years for maintenance.

The government anticipated five offers for the Vande Bharat contract from firms such as Siemens of Germany in collaboration with BEML, Russian Transmash Holding, and Rail Vikas Nigam. However, owing to a lack of technical credentials required to satisfy the bid's standards, these businesses did not bid.

Bids for these trains were sought in July of last year, with the deadline set for February 15. However, the closing bid date was pushed out to February 23 due to the lacklustre response. The Indian Railways hopes to have the first Vande Bharat sleeper train in service by the first quarter 2024. So far, the Railways have given contracts to produce 102 Vande Bharat chair trains and 200 Vande Bharat sleeper trains.

The Vande Bharat is a semi-high-speed train comprising 16 self-propelled carriages that do not need a separate engine. This method, known as distributed traction power, has grown in popularity for passenger operations across the globe. These trains include upgraded seats, an anti-bacterial air conditioning system, and the capacity to accelerate to 160 km/h in under 140 seconds.