Hyderabad-based Medha Servo Drives has won a $302m contract to design and manufacture propulsion, control and other equipment required for the production of 44 rakes of Vande Bharat-type train sets from Indian Railways.
In August 2020, Indian Railways had cancelled the tender involving the production of 44 semi-high-speed Vande Bharat type train sets, known as Train 18 at the time.
The move came after the Chinese joint venture firm CRRC Pioneer Electric emerged as the only foreign bidder among six contenders for the production of the rakes, reported Press Trust of India.
However, the tender was floated again in September.
Tweeting on social media, Indian Ministry of Railways stated: “Indian Railways has awarded the work of design and manufacturing of propulsion, control and other equipment for making 44 rakes (16 cars each) of ‘Vande Bharat’ type train sets.”
The ministry added that the project will be completed under the ‘Make in India’ policy, with 90% domestic content.
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By GlobalDataAccording to the railway officials, the new train sets will be produced at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, Tamil Nadu; the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, Punjab; and the Modern Coach Factory in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.
In February 2019, India started commercial operations of Vande Bharat Express, its first semi-high-speed train.
Capable of running at speeds of up to 160km/h, the train operates on the New Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi route.
