Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Railway Electrification Tenders are Growing Along With Indian Railways

With the Indian Railways appreciating the benefits of electrification and gradually shifting away from traditional coal or diesel run locomotives, the prospects of getting good business by responding to Railway Electrification Tenders have improved a great deal.

There was a time when Indian Railways was completely dependent on traditional fuels like coal for running both passenger and freight trains. After some time liquid fuels, especially diesel was introduced and for sometimes these two fuels dominated the railway carriage system. Gradually however the scarcity of traditional fuels and growing pressure on both freight and passenger carriage brought up necessity of finding out an alternative source of energy for running the railways service effectively. Electricity was the answer to the problem and this resulted in an influx of Railway electrical tenders in the market.

Huge Opportunities

With over 65000 Kilometers of railway network, India is one of the largest users of railways in both passenger and freight carriage. By now, over one fourth of the entire railway system has been electrified. Though the authorities intend to carry on the electrification works much longer and with much more intensity, the capital cost involved is preventing quick transgression from non-electrical to electrical railways system in the country.

Why Railway Electrical Tenders
Some of the reasons why the Railways electronic tenders are getting strength are as follows.
  • Electrification of railways will provide operational cost savings.
  • Such electrification will also provide environmental improvements as they do not create the pollutions created by the smoke emitted by coal and diesel.

Areas offering Opportunities
Some of the areas where electric lines have already been made operative are the followings.
  • Delhi-Calcutta-Mumbai triangles.
  • Delhi-Chennai-Shoranur.
  • Chennai-Vijaywada-Visakhapattanam
  • Delhi-Ambala-Ludhiana.

Since 60% of the freight traffic and 40% of the passenger traffic are hauled by electric trains.

A Few Facts for the Bidders
Prospective bidders desirous of winning Railways electrical tenders should take care of a few facts that would help them greatly in bidding for and winning these tenders. Usually the price for electrification per kilometer of line comes to around 6.5 million rupees for single track lines. Each year the budgetary allocation for electrification of railways is going up and new opportunities are created for prospective bidders. However the bidders should have –
  • Knowledge, experience, and expertise in the required field.
  • Should have good reputation in the market.
  • Must be able to accomplish the task according to the time schedule and as per specifications given by the procuring agency.

Source of Tender
Usually the source of Railway electrification tenders is the Indian Railways and its different wings like the Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western, and South Eastern Railways. However these days many corporate houses are also going for electrified railway tracks basically used for carrying coal, iron, and other raw materials and fuels to their factories.

There is no dearth of scope for eligible bidders to bid for the tenders.

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