Bengaluru Suburban Rail: Bids for 264 Coach Lease Contract Invited

Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Development Company (KRIDE) last Friday invited RFP Price Bids from prequalified bidders to deploy 264 coaches (rolling stock) for the 149.3 km Bengaluru Suburban Rail project (BSRP).

KRIDE plans to run 80 trains of 3 coaches each and 4 trains of 6 coaches across its four lines named Sampige (KSR Bengaluru – Devanahalli), Mallige (Baiyyappanahalli– Chikkabanavara), Parijaata (Kengeri – Whitefield), and Kanaka (Heelalige – Rajankunte). It will appoint a ‘Lessor’ to lease, operate and maintain these trains on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Back in May 2023, 3 firms – BEML, BHEL and CAF – had shown interest in the project, per Money Control. It remains unknown to me at this time which firms ended up responding to the RFQ (first stage) and which firms got shortlisted by KRIDE during evaluation. If someone reading is aware of the bidder names, then leave a comment below or shoot me a message via the Contact page.

Selection of the ‘Lessor’ in the RFP (second stage) by KRIDE will be made on charges per train-hour and maintenance charges per train-hour. See the selection criteria described in-depth at the bottom of this post.

Key Dates

• Pre-Bid Meeting: January 30, 2024
• Bid Due Date: February 27, 2024
• Opening of Bids: February 28, 2024
• Letter of Award (LOA): within 30 days of bid due date
• Signing of Contract: within 60 days of award of LOA

KRIDE’s Brief Scope: Selection of Lessor for Design, Manufacturing, Supply, Commissioning, Operation, and Maintenance of Rolling Stock on PPP Model for Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project

KRIDE’s Full Scope: With a view to deploy safe, reliable and technologically advanced rolling stock on the BSRP, the Authority wishes to procure:

(a) on a lease basis, a total of 264 (two hundred and sixty four) cars comprising of 80 trains of 3 Cars each and 4 trains of 6 Cars each (excluding reserve trains) which may be placed in revenue operations in accordance with the terms of the Contract (“Trains”)

(b) operations and maintenance services (including deployment of trained Train operation personnel (“Train Operators”) for the Trains

(c) other ancillary services for the Trains such as installation of machinery at depot sites, maintenance of depots etc (collectively, “Project”)

Here’s the criteria explained by KRIDE in their RFP notice on how they plan to select the Lessor.

Selection Criteria

Bids are invited for the Project on the basis of the present value (PV) of the Total Charges (as defined below). Bidders are required to quote lease charges per Train Hour (“Unit Lease Charges”) and maintenance charges per Train Hour (“Unit Maintenance Charges”) in the manner specified in the RFP. For the purpose of evaluation of Bids only, the Unit Maintenance Charges shall be escalated @5% per annum. However, the mechanism for escalation of the Unit Maintenance Charges and the terms on which payment of maintenance charges will be made to the Lessor shall be as specified in the Contract.

The sum of the Unit Maintenance Charges duly escalated and the Unit Lease Charges shall be the total charges per Train Hour for that year. The total charges per Train Hour for each year shall be multiplied with the Minimum Guaranteed Annual Availability (in Train Hours) specified in the Contract for that year to obtain the total charges quoted by the Bidders per year (“Total Charges”). The present value of the Total Charges of all the years of the Contract Period (as defined in the Contract), calculated by discounting at 8.45% (eight-point four five percent) per annum (“PV of the Total Charges”) shall constitute the sole criteria for evaluation of Bids under this RFP. The PV of the Total Charges shall be computed in accordance with the methodology specified at Clause 3.3.5 of this RFP.

The Unit Lease Charges and Unit Maintenance Charges quoted by the Bidders should be inclusive of all taxes, levies, duties, GST on input and any other charges leviable, including tax deducted at source. Applicable Goods and Services Tax (GST) payable separately on the Unit Lease Charges and Unit Maintenance Charges as per the terms of the Contract will be borne by the Authority. In this RFP, the term “Lowest Evaluated Bidder” shall mean the Bidder who quotes the lowest PV of the Total Charges in its Bid

For more updates, check out the Bengaluru Suburban Rail section, Bangalore Metro section or my Home Page! Sign up for free instant email notifications on new posts over here. Like this post? See how you can get early-access to updates and support the site over here.

– TMRG