India: The cancellation of the contract was confirmed by Olivier Loison, MD, Alstom India, in an interview with the Moneycontrol portal. According to him, Alstom will be ready to take part in a new tender.
Indian Railways announced the first tender for 100 third-generation Vande Bharat trains with aluminium car bodies in 2022. Alstom offered the lowest price for these 200 km/h trains, beating a consortium of Stadler and Medha Servo Drives.
However, according to Moneycontrol, the tender committee found Alstom’s price excessive. While the French company was ready to supply 16-car trains worth INR 1.5 bln ($17.9, all prices at current exchange rates), the committee estimated the train cost to be INR 1.4 bln ($16.6 mln, or just over $1 mln per car). In response, Alstom reduced the price to $17.3 mln, but the proposal was declined.
Indian Railways is planning to issue a new tender. Moneycontrol reports that the initial price of the project is expected to be INR 130 bln ($1.6 bln), equating to$15.5 per train and $0.97 per car.
Further contracts have been awarded to the consortium of TMH and RVNL and the consortium of Titagarh Wagons and BHEL. The contracts stipulate the purchase of a single train at a cost of INR 1.2 bln ($14.3 mln), or $0.89 mln per car. The trains, however, will have a steel car body and a design speed of 160 km/h.
In the same interview, Olivier Loison also stated that Alstom had localised the production of metro trains and locomotives by 70% and 90% respectively, in line with the requirements of the national programme Make in India. The company’s current production facilities have an annual output capacity of about 100 electric locomotives and 700 metro cars. Mr. Loison previously highlighted that Alstom’s operational scale in India is only surpassed by its operations in France and Germany.
