Jamshedpur, March 15: The consortium of Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd and Titagarh Wagons Ltd has emerged the lowest bidder quoting Rs 12,226.50 crore for making about 1.54 million forged wheels for the Indian Railways for different trains, including Vande Bharat.
The two company consortium would be required to set up a wheel test centre at a railway site for prototype testing of newly-designed wheels.
“The consortium will set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in India for forged wheel production and will supply approximately 1.6 million wheel discs of different rolling stocks of Indian Railways over a period of 20 years at about 80,000 wheels per annum,” Ramkrishna Forgings said.
The financial bid was opened on March 14.
“We are delighted to have been declared L1 in the bid for the manufacturing and supply of forged wheels for Indian Railways. This is a testament of our strong technical capabilities and our commitment to delivering high-quality products to our customers. Also, the partnership with Titagarh Wagons Ltd is a strategic move towards expanding our presence in the railway segment and we are confident that our joint efforts will enable us to deliver world-class products and services to the Indian Railways,” said Naresh Jalan, Managing Director, Ramkrishna Forgings.
“It is a path breaking development and Titagarh Wagons as a leading supplier of Passenger & Freight Rolling Stock to the Indian Railways who are our largest customer, is ready for this opportunity to supply Forged Wheels and expand its footprint by further strengthening its capabilities in the railway rolling stock segment. We look forward to working in consortium with Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd to leverage our synergies and increase our participation in ‘Atma Nirbhar’ programme of the Government of India and contribute to growth of the Indian Railways,” Umesh Chowdhary, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Titagarh Wagons, said.
“This is another game changer bid. This will help to stop import of rail wheels,” Sudhanshu Mani, retired General Manager of Integral Coach Factory and father of Vande Bharat train told IANS.
The second and third lowest bidders were Bharat Forge Ltd and Steel Authority of India Ltd.
