Alstom, the French rolling stock manufacturer which operates in rail transport markets across the world, has emerged as the lowest bidder for the Rs 30,000 crore tender for the manufacturing and maintenance of 100 aluminium body Vande Bharat trains.

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Alstom had made a bid of Rs 151 crore per trainset, which is 11 percent lower than then second lowest bid of Rs 169 crore/trainset made by consortium of Staddler and Medha. This bid was for manufacturing all 100 alluminium Vande Bharat rakes. The winning bidder for the Rs 30,000 crore contract to manufacture and maintain 100 aluminium Vande Bharat trains will receive Rs 13,000 crore on delivery, with an additional Rs 17,000 crore to be paid over 35 years for maintenance.

The government was expecting approximately five bids for the Vande Bharat tender, from companies such as Germany-based Siemens in partnership with BEML, Russian Transmashholding and Rail Vikas Nigam. However, these firms ultimately did not bid, reportedly due to a lack of technical qualifications necessary to meet the bid's requirements.

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Bids for these trains were called in July last year and were to open on February 15. But the closing bid date was extended till February 23 as the response remained tepid.

The Indian Railways is aiming at rolling out the first Vande Bharat sleeper train by the first quarter of 2024. The Railways has awarded contracts for the manufacture of 102 Vande Bharat chair trains and 200 Vande Bharat sleeper trains, so far.

The Vande Bharat is a semi-high-speed train comprising 16 self-propelled coaches, which eliminate the need for a separate locomotive. This system, known as distributed traction power, has become popular worldwide for passenger operations. These trains feature improvements such as enhanced seating, an anti-bacterial system in the air conditioning, and the ability to accelerate to 160 km/h in just 140 seconds.

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