L&T, GMR & Welspun among 102 private companies qualify to RFP stage for 12 clusters

Top firms like L&T Infrastructure Development Projects, GMR Highways and Welspun Enterprises have been found eligible to participate in the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage to make private investment and run passenger trains over the Indian Railway network.

The Ministry of Railway received 120 applications from 16 firms at the Request for Qualification (RFQ) stage, out of which 102 applications were found eligible for the RFP stage.

The railways invited bids from private firms to operate passenger train services over 12 clusters comprising for more than 150 origin-destination pair of routes through the introduction of 151 modern Trains. The project envisages private investment to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore for running passenger trains over the rail network for the first time.

The two-stage competitive bidding process

The private entities for undertaking the project would be selected through a transparent two-stage competitive bidding process comprising a request for qualification (RFQ) and request for proposal (RFP).

The RFQ for 12 clusters were published on July 1, 2020.

Applicants for the 12 clusters

The applicants of for these 12 clusters include Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, Cube Highways and Infrastructure II Pte Ltd., Gateway Rail Freight Limited, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Ltd, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd, and IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd, PNC Infratech and Malempati Power Private Ltd among others. With high footfall and revenue, firms showed the most interest in Delhi and Mumbai clusters.

The railways plan to begin private train operations by March 2023, with 12 trains, according to an internal projection. By 2027, the Railways plan to bring in 151 such services.