Sleeper Vande Bharat may get delayed due to tussle between consortium partners
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An official of TMH Group, a Russian rolling stock maker, told ET that RVNL is seeking a higher stake in the joint venture. This is a violation of the agreement between the two companies. This agreement can no longer be reversed and is binding. The official said that the company has taken up the matter with the higher authorities of the government. Experts say that there has been a delay in signing the deal due to a dispute between the two partner companies. There was a deal between these companies before bidding. Accordingly, Metrowagonmash (MWM), a subsidiary of TMH Group, will have a 70 per cent stake in the consortium. Russian train control producer company LES will have a five per cent stake and RVNL will have a 25 per cent stake.
lowest bid
TMH Group’s India business head Sergei Medvedev said RVNL is now seeking 69 per cent stake. Medvedev claimed that the two companies have entered into a legally binding agreement that cannot be changed. He added that TMH has vast experience in manufacturing rolling stock. The company is well positioned to lead the joint venture. RVNL and the Railways did not respond to queries in this regard. Medvedev said that most of the equipment required for the Vande Bharat project is available in India only. Suppliers have been identified and long term contracts have been entered into with them.
Railways had invited bids in December 2022 for the supply of Vande Bharat train sets. It was opened in March. TMH-RVNL had quoted the lowest bid of Rs 120 crore per train. Apart from this, BHEL-Titagarh, BEML-Siemens, Alstom Transport and Medha Servo Drives-Stadler Rail had also bid. Vande Bharat Express trains currently running in the country have chair car facility. Right now they are being run on the Shatabdi route. But after the sleeper Vande comes to India, there is a plan to run it on the Rajdhani route.
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