Southern Railway, across its six divisions of Chennai, Salem, Trichy, Madurai, Palghat and Trivandrum, had awarded a total 151 contracts under e-auction with a value of Rs.82.80 Crores as on 15th September, 2022.
More details:
- This includes 62 Parking contracts, 64 advertisement contracts, 14 contracts for leasing of parcel space in SLR, 3 contracts for operation of AC Paid Waiting Halls and 8 contracts for running Pay & Use toilets at railway stations.
- A total of 2762 assets were identified by the six divisions of Southern Railway for e-auction for Commercial earnings and Non-fare revenue (NFR). This includes assets such as SLR leasing for parcels (565), Parking (467), Advertising (1152), Pay & Use Toilets (275) and ATM (303).
- Details of Contracts awarded by Divisions of Southern Railway through E-auction (till 15th September 2022).
- Every Division has been propelling the E –Auction Process for Commercial Assets and the response has been good.
- Salem Division: has awarded a total of 53 contracts for a total value of Rs.23.69 Crores. This includes 25 Parking contracts for Rs.12.48 Crores, 20 Advertisement Contracts for Rs.7.43 Crores and 3 contracts for operation of AC Paid waiting halls at railway stations at a cost of Rs.1.31 Crores, 4 contracts for Pay & Use toilets at railway stations valued at Rs.2.07 Crores and 1 leasing contracts for Rs.40.00 lakhs.
- Chennai Division: has awarded a total of 20 contracts for a total value of Rs.28.09 Crores. This includes 5 Parking contracts for Rs.7.33 Crores, 6 Advertisement Contracts for Rs.9.49 Crores, 8 leasing contracts for Rs.9.88 Crores and 1 contract for Pay & Use toilets at railway stations valued at Rs.1.39 Crores.
- Madurai Division: has awarded a total of 45 contracts for a total value of Rs.13.40 Crores. This includes 12 Parking contracts for Rs.5.16 Crores, 30 Advertisement Contracts for Rs.7.40 Crores and 3 leasing contracts for Rs.0.84 Crores.
- Tiruchchirappalli Division: has awarded a total of 18 contracts for a total value of Rs.8.32 Crores. This includes 13 Parking contracts for Rs.6.34 Crores, 2 Advertisement Contracts for Rs.1.95 Crores and 3 contracts for Pay & Use toilets at railway stations valued at Rs.3.5 lakhs.
- Thiruvananthapuram Division: has awarded a total of 8 contracts for a total value of Rs.3.70 Crores. This includes 6 Advertisement Contracts for Rs.2.89 Crores and 2 leasing contracts for Rs.80 lakhs.
- Palakkad Division: has awarded 7 Parking contracts for a total value of Rs.5.600 Crores.
Salient Features of e-Auction System:
- One can log into www.ireps.gov.in and register. Once registered, the user can log in and view Live E –Auctions Leasing, Upcoming E-Auctions Leasing, and Close E-Auctions Leasing. This Indian Railways E – Procurement System is the portal for E-Tender, E-Auction Sale, E-Auction Leasing, Contracts, etc. This portal brings the Railways and the vendors on the same platform for easy online transactions.
- Policy for e-Auction and Standard Conditions of Auction issued by Railway Board:
- Earlier system of physical registration of contractors Division-wise has been done away with,
- Only financial criteria – based on self-declaration of past turnovers by contractors
- Financial turnover criteria rationalised and standardised – No turnover requirement upto Rs. 40 lacs annual contract estimates
- One time online self-registration of contractors
- No geographical restrictions for participation in any auction of any Division
- All assets will be fed in the system for better monitoring and ensuring issuing contracts in advance – reduce asset idling.
- Auction catalogues with all details of the assets will be published on IREPS portal, minimum 15 days in advance.
- Auctions will be conducted online- bidders will be able to participate from anywhere in India.
- Minimum 30 minutes will be given for auction so that all interested contractors can submit their bids.
- Auction of consecutive Lots in any catalogue will be closed after a gap of 10 minutes.
- In case any bid is received within the last 2 minutes of auction closing time, then the closing time for the lot will be extended automatically for 2 minutes. 10 such auto extensions will be permitted to ensure adequate time for all bidders to submit their bids.
- Reserve Price of the lots will not be disclosed and the bidders will be free to offer any bid according to true commercial potential of the assets as per their assessment.
- Bids will be auto decided.
- If Highest bid (H1) is equal or above the Reserve Price then the contract will be finalized on the same day after auction closing.
- Bid sheet and contract agreement will be signed digitally.
- Payment schedule for the contract will be generated immediately.
- All payments by the contractor will be made online.
- Entire process will be online & paperless.
Benefits:
- Online mode allows potential bidders from distant locations across the country to participate in the bidding process.
- Online payment to Railways post award of contract. Till now provision of daily manual payment in parcel leasing contract is there, which is a tedious process. Now it is made online.
- Better Monitoring: After mapping, portal prompts when an earning contract of a particular asset is nearing completion and compels to start fresh auction, thus making idle time of the asset minimal.
- Standardisation of eligibility conditions pan-India.
- Simplification of processes: Drastically reduces the time taken in finalisation of Tenders and will prevent revenue loss on this account.
- Quick re-award of contract in case of failure of any contractor
- Breaks the cartel among bidders. Bidders’ identity will be masked from each other and from IR.
- Will increase revenue earning by fetching true commercial potential of assets due to higher competition amongst bidders.
- Will minimise assets’ idling, resulting in maximisation of potentials from the assets.
- No eligibility criteria upto 40 lacs will help in promoting start-ups.
Source: Southern Railway -Press Release | Image Credit (representational): Southern Railway
