Indian Railways is planning to buy 38,000 new wagons worth Rs 90 billion (EUR 1.1 billion) over the next three years in a bid to increase its position in freight transport.
India’s rail freight volume rose by 53 million tonnes to 1,162 million tonnes last year. For the fiscal year 2018-2019, the Indian Railways has a freight loading target of 1,216 million tonnes, which will bring approx. 60 per cent of the total targeted revenue for the year. The addition of new wagons is likely to cater to the increasing demands of consumers.
“Most of this procurement will be because the freight transportation by railways is gradually picking up. Some of it will be replacement as well as we plan to include higher capacity wagons to our fleet. … We have been unable to serve a lot of demands because of unavailability of rakes. Now, we have told our bulk consumers that they would get assured rakes throughout the year. Hence, this bulk addition of wagons makes a lot of financial sense for us,” a senior railway ministry official said.
The government’s move will also benefit manufacturing companies such as Texmaco Rail and Engineering, Titagarh Wagons, Jindal Rail and Jupiter Wagons. The ministry has decided to invite for bulk tenders under the bucket filling method so that the lowest bidder may have the option to supply all the wagons in a fixed time frame. If the lowest bidder is not able to serve, the second lowest bidder will get the chance to supply the tendered quantity.
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