TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale on Monday claimed in a social media post that after the Modi government revised the ₹58,000 crore contract for manufacturing Vande Bharat sleeper trains this year, the cost per train increased by 50%.
In the post, Saket wrote, "A train that earlier cost ₹290 crores will now cost ₹436 crores." He added, "This is a train with only AC coaches that the poor cannot afford."
He pointed out that the original contract was ₹58,000 crores for 200 trains, but the number of trains in the contract has been reduced to 133 from 200.
According to Gokhale, the earlier cost per train was ₹290 crores, while the new cost per train will be ₹436 crores.
The TMC MP questioned who is benefiting from this 50% cost increase in the Vande Bharat contract.
Ministry of Railways's response:
Responding to Gokhale’s claims, the Ministry of Railways asked him to "stop spreading misinformation and fake news."
It explained that while the cost per train has increased, the total contract value has decreased.
"Cost per coach multiplied by the number of coaches equals the cost of a train. In the sleeper project, the cost per coach is lower than all benchmarks due to transparency in the process. We have increased the number of coaches from 16 to 24 to create longer trains, while keeping the total number of coaches in the contract constant. This is in response to high demand for train travel," the Ministry said.
The Ministry of Railways further stated that earlier, 200 trains with 16 coaches each cost ₹58,000 crores. Now, 133 trains with 24 coaches will cost ₹57,936 crores.
"The total contract value has actually reduced because of economies of scale when train length is increased," it explained.
The Ministry also added, "We are producing a record number of non-AC coaches (12,000) in response to the high demand for railway travel."
