NMRCL Invites Tenders to Procure 69 Coaches for Nagpur Metro

This piece of news slipped through the cracks!

The Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd recently published a notice on their website inviting tenders from rolling stock manufacturing companies to supply trains to operate on its 2 metro lines! This notice to kick-start the bidding process was posted after Germany’s KfW Development Bank recently confirmed NMRCL’s proposal of providing a Rs 3,700 crore loan for the project. The Department of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance has also cleared the proposal, and a deal is expected to be signed very soon.

Tender Notice No: N1RS-1/2016 (ICB) DT. 25/01/2016 – Design, Manufacture, Supply, Testing, Commissioning of Passenger Rolling Stock (Electrical Multiple Units) and Training of Personnel at Nagpur Metro Rail Project – view notice (PDF)

The notice does not divulge the number of coaches required, but as per someone closely involved with the project, 23 trains-sets of 3 coaches each are being sought by the NMRCL. This matches with the initial requirements stated in Chapter 7 of the project’s Detailed Project Report which was prepared in November 2013. According to it, the NMRCL will initially operate 11 train-sets of 3 coaches on the 19.658 km north-south line between Automotive Square & Khapri and 12 train-sets of 3 coaches on the 18.557 km east west line between Lokmanya Nagar – Prajapati Nagar.

The notice also does not go over any technical details since it’s essentially…just a notice, but those details can be found in the bidding documents which cost Rs 50,000 and if purchased would make me re-evaluate my lifestyle & decision making process. The DPR again comes to the rescue! According to it, the trains will be 2.90 meters wide (similar to Kochi’s Metro) and will initially run in a 3 coach configuration (Driving Motor Car + Trailer Car + Driving Motor Car) which can later be extended to 6 coaches when required.  The 3-coach trains are expected to have a capacity of 450 passengers under normal conditions and 764 under crush conditions.

Map of Nagpur’s Metro Rail system – view Nagpur Metro Map & Information

The bidding process will consist of a single stage through which the applicants will have to submit both their technical & financial bids in one go. The time-frame to conduct a single stage bid is much shorter than the double stage bid which the MMRC in Mumbai is conducting for the 33.5 km Colaba-SEEPZ line. In that long-drawn-out process, first the technical bids will be scrutinized and then eligible applicants who made the cut will be invited to submit their financial bid.

Applications by Rolling Stock companies for Nagpur’s Metro have to be submitted by 4 pm on March 29 2016 after which the winning supplier will be selected on March 31 at 4 pm. A metro coach can cost anywhere from Rs. 8 crores to Rs. 12 crores, so I expect the Rolling Stock contract’s value to be somewhere in the range of Rs 600 crores to Rs 800 crores.

For more updates on Nagpur’s Metro, check out the Nagpur section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG