BHEL-led consortium awarded order for 80 Vande Bharat Trains

BHEL-TWL (BHEL-Titagarh Wagons Ltd.) consortium has been awarded an order for 80 Vande Bharat Trains in one of the biggest Railway tenders for manufacturing and maintenance of Vande Bharat Trains, the company announced through an exchange filing.

In the prestigious tender for 200 trains, the BHEL-led consortium emerged as the L2 bidder against stiff competition, and has been awarded a contract for 80 Vande Bharat Trains, valued at more than Rs.23,000 Crore (excluding taxes and duties). The order value comprises supply of train sets for Rs.9,600 Crore and balance for maintenance of the same for a period of 35 years. This order is a major milestone in the company’s diversification drive.

The consortium shall manufacture, test, commission and supply 80 energy efficient Vande Bharat Trains at their manufacturing facilities and at Indian Railways’ ICF-Chennai facility. The trains shall have design/operating speed of 176/160 kmph (semi-high speed).

With BHEL being one of the major suppliers of rolling stock electrics to Indian railways, its scope will cover supply of propulsion system, i.e., IGBT-based traction converter-inverter, auxiliary converter, train control management system, motors, transformers, and mechanical bogies. The products shall be manufactured at BHEL’s manufacturing facilities at Bengaluru, Bhopal and Jhansi.

BHEL’s consortium partner TWL, being the rolling stock manufacturer for Indian Metros and Indian Railways, shall be responsible for the mechanical coach building. The final integration, testing, commissioning and maintenance of the trains shall be jointly done by BHEL and TWL.

The BHEL-TWL consortium was the only fully homegrown Indian bidder amongst the five bidders, and is a big step towards achieving the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Both companies are highly committed to provide world class technology to the people of India and contribute to the development of the nation, making it truly self-reliant in the semi-high speed passenger rolling stock segment.