NCRTC Invites EOI for Indigenous Platform Screen Doors

National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) on Wednesday invited Expression of Interest (EOI) applications from Indian engineering and manufacturing firms for their partnership to locally develop platform screen doors (PSDs) for use on existing and upcoming metro, RRTS, High-Speed and main-line railway lines – within India and abroad.

Besides preventing suicides and accidents due to passenger movement, PSDs greatly help to reduce maintenance costs in underground stations by improving the quality of the environment, resulting in lower air-conditioning and ventilation costs.

The EOI notice mentions the NCRTC aims to support the Government of India’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat, or self-reliant India, initiative to locally produce, manufacture and consume its own products and services without relying on fragile global supply chains.

Here are some excerpts (portions in bold are my emphasis)

Background

The Covid-19 pandemic is having a major impact on all economic activities, including manufacturing in most parts of the world. Supply chain disruptions in many sectors have been witnessed, the results of which shall become more pronounced in future. For a world that must quickly come to terms with the new normal, it is imperative that manufacturing activities are quickly resumed and ramped up, which would help in restoration of normalcy and in avoiding shortages that may adversely affect international economic recovery.

A key lesson for businesses, emerging from the Covid-19 aftermath, is that the decentralizing of manufacturing will have to be adopted as a major strategy to mitigate disruption risks associated with concentrated and localized operations. India, being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, offers a wide range of opportunities for investment and adoption of new technologies as well as markets for their absorption. Government of India envisions India as a key engine of global growth and is putting in place various supporting initiatives to make India a US$ 5 trillion economy. Atma Nirbhar Bharat, or self-reliant India, shall be one of the important pillars in realising this aim.

NCRTC has planned its journey of project implementation by bringing technologies that are not yet available within the country. All attempts are being made towards the aim of Atma Nirbhar Bharat by adopting Make in India in its true spirit. Going a step further, NCRTC has assumed the responsibility of bringing the technology of manufacturing PSD in India. There exists huge demand for affordable locally produced PSD in upcoming Metro/RRTS and High-Speed Rail system in India. There is also requirement for retrofit works in existing Metro systems for ensuring passenger safety. NCRTC would like to take initiative in promoting long term partnerships in localization and manufacturing PSD with prospective partners.

Objective

NCRTC is actively seeking long term partnership from PSD/PSD component manufacturers, with the common objective of developing, manufacturing, and commissioning PSD system and interface with Train Control system (Wired and Wireless)

The first common objective of the parties (NCRTC and the selected party(ies) would be to undertake indigenous development of PSD as per international standards compatible with different Train Control systems of Metro / RRTS / High speed/ main line Railway systems. Development in this context would include design, prototype manufacturing, testing and validation of PSD system to specified standards.

As a second common objective, the parties, in partnership, shall take orders from different Rail Based systems in India and abroad to execute PSD works through indigenously manufactured PSD system.

Partnership

The partnership with the selected prospective partner will be entered into through a selection process from the interested parties for this project. The partnership will include the following:

• Preparation of overall design of PSD system
• Making available other electromechanical components required for
  Platform Screen Doors locally.
• Preparing overall structural design and local manufacture of the structural part of PSD.
• Obtaining product certification Research Institutions, PSUs, Corporate and International OEMs meeting requisite quality and safety requirement of a PSD system are invited to express their interest for the above initiative.

Nature of partnership: NCRTC is open for partnerships with prospective partner(s) through a range of cooperation modes including but not limited to the following:

• Joint ventures
• Joint manufacturing
• Technology licensing
• Knowhow transfer

Key Dates

• Interaction with Prospective Firms: July 22 2020 at 15:00 hours (video conference)
• EOI Response Deadline: August 14 2020 at 15:00 hours

Platform screen doors supplied by foreign firms (eg. NRT-Stone India, KTK-AIKON, CRRC Zhuzhou-Panasonic) are currently operational across Chennai Metro’s underground stations, Delhi Metro’s Yellow (few stations), Pink, Magenta & Airport Express lines, Noida Metro, Kolkata Metro’s Line-2, and in the coming years are planned to be installed in Mumbai (Line-2, 3, 4 & 7), Ahmedabad, Pune and Nagpur.

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– TMRG