Indian Railways on 07 Oct, 2020 opened the applications submitted by various entities in response to the RFQs for PPP in Passenger Train Operations Project.
MoR has received excellent response.In all 120 Applications have been received for the 12 Clusters, from 15 applicant firms.
- It may be noted that Ministry of Railways (MOR) had invited Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for private participation in operation of passenger train services over 12 Clusters comprising 140 Origin Destination pair of routes through introduction of 151 modern Trains to increase high quality trains operated on the network.
- This is the first major initiative of attracting private investment for running Passenger Trains over Indian Railway Network.
- The project is expected to entail private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crores.
- The private entities for undertaking the project would be selected through a transparent two-stage competitive bidding process comprising of Request for Qualification (RFQ) and Request for Proposal (RFP).
- The RFQ for 12 clusters were published on 01 July 2020.
- MoR will expeditiously complete the evaluation of Applications and RFP documents will be made available to the qualified applicants by November 2020.
- MoR has targeted to award all the Clusters by February, 2021.
Details of Participation Cluster wise:
| SN | Cluster Name | Number of RFQs received |
| 1 | Mumbai 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Mumbai 2 | 12 |
| 3 | Delhi 1 | 10 |
| 4 | Delhi 2 | 12 |
| 5 | Chandigarh | 9 |
| 6 | Howrah | 9 |
| 7 | Patna | 9 |
| 8 | Prayagraj | 10 |
| 9 | Secunderabad | 10 |
| 10 | Jaipur | 10 |
| 11 | Chennai | 9 |
| 12 | Bengaluru | 11 |
| Total | 120 |
Details of Participants:
| SN | Applicant’s Name |
| 1 | Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited |
| 2 | Sainath sales and Services Pvt Ltd |
| 3 | IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited |
| 4 | Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation LImited |
| 5 | GMR Highways Limited |
| 6 | Welspun Enterprises Limited |
| 7 | Gateway Rail freight Limited |
| 8 | Cube Highways and Infrastructure III Pvt Ltd |
| 9 | Malempati Power Private Limited |
| 10 | L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Limited |
| 11 | RK Associates and Hoteliers Pvt Ltd |
| 12 | Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A |
| 13 | PNC Infratech Ltd |
| 14 | Arvind Aviation |
| 15 | BHEL |
About the project:
- This is the first initiative of private investment for running Passenger Trains over Indian Railways network.
- The first pre-Application Conference was held on July 21, 2020.
- The Second Pre-application Conference on Private Train Project RFQs was held on 12th August 2020.
- Post first pre-application conference, the Ministry of Railways (MoR) has reduced the RFQ fee by one tenth for participating in more than one project, removed restriction of up to 3 projects per bidder and clarified that leasing of trains is allowed.
- MoR has also shared traffic data, draft concession agreement, draft feasibility report and draft manual for standards and specifications of trains etc.
- The project would entail private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crore.
- The private entity shall be responsible for financing, procuring, operation and maintenance of the trains.
- The Concession Period for the project shall be 35 years.
- Trains shall be designed for a maximum speed of 160 kmph.
- Majority of Trains to be manufactured in India (Make in India).
- The Private Entity shall pay to Indian Railways fixed haulage charges, energy charges as per actual consumption and a share in Gross Revenue determined through a transparent bidding process.
- These trains shall be operated by the Driver and Guard of Indian Railways.
- The operation of the trains by the private entity shall conform to the key performance indicators like punctuality, reliability, upkeep of trains etc.
- Operation and maintenance of the passenger trains would be governed by standards & specifications and requirements specified by Indian Railways.
Source: PIB-Press Release | Image Credit (representational): MoR
