Ministry of Railways decides to enable one of the UTS Counter into UTS cum PRS counter at stations only
Ministry
of Railways decides to enable one of the UTS Counter into UTS cum PRS counter
at stations only for refund of PRS tickets purchased from counters (PRS counter
ticket)
These instructions shall be implemented w.e.f. today i.e. 01.12.2015.
These instructions shall be implemented w.e.f. today i.e. 01.12.2015.
In yet another passenger friendly measure,
Ministry of Railways have now decided that one of the UTS counter at the
existing PRS ticket booking locations shall be converted into UTS cum PRS
counter only for cancellation and refund of PRS. Counter
tickets during the non-working hours of PRS counters at
stations or in case of non availability of current counters at
the station.
These instructions shall be implemented w.e.f.
today i.e. 01.12.2015.
Cancellation and refund of PRs counter tickets shall be made across the
earmarked UTS cum PRS counter (only for refund of PRS counter tickets)
beyond the working hours of existing PRS counters or current counters as per
refund Rule, under the following circumstances : -
(a) Refund
shall be granted as per refund Rule
(b) This
facility shall be available on the tickets for those trains whose scheduled
departure time is within 24 hours from the time of cancellation of tickets.
(c) If
current counters are not available at the station or no PRS counter is working
beyond the working hours of PRS counters in that case PRS counter tickets may
be cancelled and refund may be granted across such nominated UTS cum PRS
counter.
(d) In no case
during the working hours of PRs or current counters of a particular station
such refund shall be granted across UTS cum PRS counter.
(e) (i)
Cancellation ticket shall not be issued in this case and original tickets shall
be retained by counter clerk as is being retained at PRS counter for accountal
purpose. No UTS roll shall be utilised for this purpose.
(ii)
However, if on one PNR all the passengers (say 6 passengers) have confirmed
accommodation and out of 6 passengers two passengers do not want to travel and
cancel the same in that case new tickets shall require to be issued. For such
tickets the printer of existing PRS counters may be utilized.
(iii)
If the passenger has already provided mobile number, SMS on the registered
mobile number shall be sent for refunded amount. Passenger shall also be asked
to provide the mobile number in the cancellation form during the time of
cancellation to send the SMS for refunded amount. Adequate number of
cancellation forms shall be made available at such counters.
These instructions shall be implemented w.e.f. today i.e. 01.12.2015.
*********
Formal
Contract Agreement Signing Ceremony Held For The Two Rs.40,000/- Crores High
Horse Power Hi-Tech Best-In-Class Modern Locomotive Joint Venture Factory
Projects (Electric Locomotive Factory At Madhepura And Diesel Locomotive
Factory At Marhowra - Bihar)
The Two Projects Are Really A Win Win Occasion For All The Stakeholders : Arun Jaitley
Two Projects Finalized In The Most Transparent Manner : Suresh Prabhu
The Two Projects Are Really A Win Win Occasion For All The Stakeholders : Arun Jaitley
Two Projects Finalized In The Most Transparent Manner : Suresh Prabhu
The formal
contract agreement signing ceremony for the two Rs.40,000/- crores High
Horse Power HI-TECH best-in-class modern locomotive Joint Venture factory
projects (Electric Locomotive Factory at Madhepura and Diesel
Locomotive Factory at Marhowra - Bihar) took place today i.e. on 30.11.2015 in
New Delhi. This signifies a giant leap for the nation’s biggest ever “Make
in India” initiative. The signing ceremony took place in the august
presence of Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information &
Broadcasting, Shri Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of Railways, Shri
Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Union Minister for Communication & Information
Technology Shri Ravishankar Prasad, Union Minister of State for Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge), and MoS Parliamentary
Affairs Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister of State for Micro Small and
Medium Enterprises, Shri Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of State for Railways
Shri Manoj Sinha, Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation
Shri Ram Kripal Yadav, Former Union Minister and Member of Parliament
Shri Sharad Yadav and other Members of Parliament hailing from Bihar including
Shri Rajesh Ranjan (Shri Pappu Yadav) also graced the occasion. It is a momentous occasion for Indian Railways as well
as for the nation. The signatories to the contract agreement for
Madhepura factory were Shri Sudheer Kumar, Executive Director (Electrical
Development) Railway Board and Shri Bharat Salhotra, MD, ALSTOM Transport
India. The signatories to the contract agreement for Marhowra factory were Shri
Jayant Kumar, Director (Mechanical Works), Railway Board and Shri Nalin Jain,
MD, GE Transport India.
On this
occasion, Ambassador of France to India H.E. Mr. Francois Richier,
Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A.K. Mital, Member Electrical Railway Board Shri
Navin Tandon, Member Mechanical Railway Board Shri Hemant Kumar, Financial
Commissioner Railways Shri S. Mookerji, Member Staff Railway Board Shri Pradeep
Kumar, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), GoI
Shri Amitabh Kant, both the JV partners(of the two proposed locomotive
factories) namely CEO, M/s GE TRANSPORT, USA Ms Jamie Miller; CEO, M/s ALSTOM,
FRANCE Mr. Henri Poupart-Lafarge were among those present.
Earlier
this month, Indian Railways achieved an important milestone when it awarded
Letters of Acceptance(LoA) for setting up two modern locomotive factories – one
Diesel Locomotive Factory (DLF) at Marhowra and the other Electric Locomotive
Factory(ELF) at Madhepura, both in Bihar. These two factories are the
excellent example of biggest “Make in India” initiative ever undertaken by
Indian Government. While the contract for DLF Marhowra has been awarded to a
USA – based Company M/s GE Global Sourcing India Pvt. Limited, the contract for
Madhepura ELF has been awarded to a France – based Company M/s Alstom
Manufacturing India Limited. These two factories also mark the flow of
FDI in the Railway sector.
DLF
Marhowra will manufacture and supply modern diesel electric locomotives of 4500
HP and 6000 HP (which in combination can operate as 9000 HP and 12000 HP
multiple units). ELF Madhepura will manufacture and supply modern
electric locomotives of high horse power namely 12000 HP. Under the
agreement, 1000 diesel locos will be manufactured in a period of 11 years with
a basic cost of Rs.14,656 crore and 800 electric locos will be manufactured in
a period of 11 years at a basic cost of Rs.19904 crore. The cost of
setting up factories is around Rs.1300/- each. Taking into account the
cost of setting up factories and maintenance facilities, these two projects
together are worth Rs.40,000/- crore.
These
modern powerful state of the art locos will be useful for heavy haul freight
operations and mega freight operations in the dedicated freight corridor and
for pan India operation. These factories would lead to substantial
development of ancillary manufacturing units, generation of direct and indirect
employment and substantial development in the region.
These
two factories are joint ventures (JV) of the Ministry of Railways. The
fair, transparent and competitive bidding process adopted in selecting the JV
partner received wide-spread appreciation from all stakeholders. These
projects will usher in new technologies into the Indian industry at large
through high paced indigenization.
Speaking on the
occasion, Union Minister for Finance, Corporate
Affairs and Information & Broadcasting, Shri Arun Jaitley said “that
today
is really a win win occasion for all the stakeholders. I think this is one step
which has been taken by Indian Railways which is literally going to benefit
everyone. First of all it is going to benefit the Indian Railways itself. We had
a very old Railway system in India which is on its way towards improvement.
Some aspects are becoming old and need modernization and therefore Railways in
the past and a half has been working on a structured game plan in order to
strengthen the railway infrastructure and modernize the Railways as a whole.
Lot of funds have been placed through the budgetary resources and also
long-term finance has been made available by the LIC and we took momentous
decision to invite both private partnership and FDI. Setting up of these
factories is an important milestone in the creation of the Railway
infrastructure and both these activities will channelize economic activities.
It is very important contract at entry point into the railway system by
international M/s like GE and Alstom who will be manufacturing these
ecologically friendly locomotives. It is a win win situation for Bihar as it
will boost the economy of Bihar. This is very big first major manufacturing
investment in Bihar and therefore as the Railway Minister said this will create
eco-system within ancillary unit services and will create huge opportunities of
employment and that is why everyone even the farmers will also benefit from
this activity. I have also a reason to be satisfied because it is a major
manufacturing investment as far as India is concerned because we have been
facing with a large number of domestic and global challenges. The
slowdown of the global economy at last has a visibly impact on our exports. So
this is one channel what we have to help in such scenario. There is also
private sector investment which has now started picking up. Despite a great
adversity of two successive years of poor monsoon and a combination of other
factors which is holding us back, we seemed to be overcoming these challenges
and now have reasons to be more than satisfied. We do have challengers but
there are now opportunities of private investment and FDI in public sector.
Manufacturing has achieved 9.3 % growth which is a significant figure. We
will continue this momentum”.
Speaking
on the occasion, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said
that it is really a big feet that these two projects have now been finalized in
the most transparent manner. Shri Suresh Prabhu pointed out that this could
happen because the process of decision making has been fast track now in
Railway Ministry through delegation and decentralization of power initiated by
him not only to Members of Railway Board but also to the levels of General
Managers and also Divisional Railway Managers. This expeditious decision to
award contracts for these two factories is also in line with the Hon’ble Prime
Minister’s policy of best governance. Shri Suresh Prabhu said that these
factories will now lead to eco-system for developing ancillary units which in
turn will become part of global supply chain and spur vertical and horizontal
manufacturing activity. The other spin-off of these two big ticket project will
be to help in the increase of GDP. Referring to the Morgan Stanely’s
recent report on Indian Railways Shri Suresh Prabhu pointed out that this
report has categorical stated that Indian Railway has now achieved the true
potential of driving country’s economy in a big way. He said that these two
locomotive factories, which is a joint venture, are set up for inducting high
horse power freight locomotives into the Railway System for improving the
efficiency of operation in terms of increasing the speed of freight trains,
thereby improving the throughput capacity and also enhancing line capacity.
This would also help Indian Railways to benchmark its freight train operation
with the global trends of running freight trains. Referring to the COP-21
Summit in Paris Shri Suresh Prabhu said that the entire world is concerned
about reducing emission and improving environment. He said the locos being
produced in these two factories are best in class and are expected to be energy
efficient and ecological friendly. It is really a best Make in India
Initiative. The Railway Minister pointed out that the bidding process followed
by the Ministry has been rated as the most transparent and efficient process by
the Industry. Even the agencies losing the bid have expressed
appreciation and satisfaction over the transparent process adopted by the
Indian Railways. He further stated that the requirement of maintaining
the locomotive is to ensure compliance to stringent performance parameters
which would enable the Railways to utilize the assets to its maximum utility.
Speaking on the
occasion, Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha said that the
production of locos from these two factories will substantially increase the
speed of goods trains and will therefore change the freight moment scenario in
a big way. Shri Sinha said that his Government is always committed to the
protecting the interest of farmers and the youth. He said that these two
projects will lead to economic development and will generate direct and
indirect employment. These projects have been planned in the true spirit of
Make in India initiative of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narender Modi. He also
appreciated the transparent manner adopted in awarding these contracts.
In his
speech, former Union Minister and Member of Parliament Shri Sharad Yadav
congratulated Govt. of India and Indian Railways for finally taking steps for
setting up these two factories which are quite useful not only for Bihar but
for the nation.
Speaking on the
occasion, the Chairman Railway Board Shri A. K. Mital while welcoming the
delegates and emphasizing on the need of ‘Make in India’ initiative stated that
these two projects would fulfill the multiple objectives for the country.
He stated that these locomotive factories are part of the process of network
consolidation and modernization unveiled by the Government. Explaining the
major highlights of the project, the Chairman, Railway Board stated that
Ministry of Railway is committed and have indomitable will to go all-out to
fulfill its part of this partnership whether it be providing of land, power
connection, rail/road connectivity and meeting its commitment towards
procurement of 1000 Diesel and 800 Electric Locomotives and whatever other
commitments are embodied in the agreement. Highlighting this big achievement of
the Railways, Shri A. K. Mital stated that Major spin-off benefits for the
Railways include optimization of our maintenance practices. At a policy
level, this builds a platform for a modern railway equipment industry that
would help to upgrade the technology periodically. He stated that locomotive factories
will also help develop ancillary industries in the country.
BRIEF
ABOUT THE TWO FACTORIES
(a)
Background :-
The Cabinet in December 2006 and
February 2007 had approved setting up of the Diesel Locomotive Factory at
Marhowra, Bihar and Electric Locomotive Factory at Madhepura, Bihar
respectively through the Joint Venture Routes. The project envisaged setting up
of a factory each for manufacturing High Horse Power Electric locomotives
(12000 HP) and Diesel locomotives (4500/ 6000 HP) and also development of
maintenance facilities for maintenance of a specified number of locomotives for
a specified period. The scope of the project includes an assured off-take of
1000 Diesel and 800 Electric locomotives to be procured over a period of 11
years. The Joint Venture Partners for the projects were to be selected through
an International Competitive Bidding (ICB) process. The equity of the Ministry
of Railways (MoR) in the Joint Venture Company would be limited to 26% or Rs
100 crore whichever is lower. Ministry of Railways would provide land for the
factory on lease to the Joint Venture Company for a period of 30 years in
accordance with the conditions specified in the land lease agreement. The land
for setting up of the maintenance facilities would be licensed to the Company.
The factory of the Joint Venture Company would continue to function as a going
concern beyond the specified supply period of 11 years and would be able to
conduct business in a manner as it decides and would be governed by the relevant
provisions of the Company’s Act, 2013. The Ministry of Railways would continue
to hold an equity of not less than 10% in the JV Company until the supply
period. Thereafter, the Ministry would have the option to exit from the
Company. The Ministry of Railways would also have veto rights on certain
reserved matters governing the function of the Company during the supply
period. The Company would be free to produce additional locomotives over and
above the assured off-take for the Indian Railways, for other customers during
the supply period. The extension of land lease for the factory beyond the
initial period of 30 years would be decided by the Ministry of Railways based
on the conditions prescribed in the land lease agreement. The maintenance
facilities created by the Company would revert back to the Indian Railways on
completion of the maintenance obligations of maintaining a specified number of
locomotives for a specified period.
1.
Bidding process :-
In order to
enable Ministry of Railways to select a Joint Venture Partner for formation of
the JV Company, a two stage bidding process was adopted. The first stage called
the ‘Request For Qualification’ (RFQ) stage was for short-listing of bidders based
on their technical and financial capacity. The RFQ process was initiated by
Ministry of Railways in May 2013, following which four global leaders in the
field of manufacturing locomotives were shortlisted for participation in the
financial bid stage. The bidding documents comprising ‘Request For Proposal’
(RFP) and the Procurement-cum-Maintenance Agreement (PCMA) was considered and
approved by the Cabinet in Jan.’ 2014. The RFP document along with the PCMA was
issued to the shortlisted bidders in February/ March 2015 and the financial
bids were received in August/ September 2015. Following the evaluation of the
bids received, Ministry of Railways has identified the Selected Bidder and has
awarded the contract to Alstom Manufacturing India Limited for Electric
Locomotives and GE Global Sourcing Limited for Diesel Locomotives. The Bidding
parameter was limited to a single number i.e the Price of a locomotive with all
other parameters being fixed upfront as a percentage of the Price of
Locomotive. This factor played an important role in enabling a faster
evaluation of the Bid proposal and determining the Selected Bidder.
2.
Broad Project Contours:-
The eligibility
condition ensured that Companies who have design experience of producing and
supplying locomotives were eligible for participation in the bid process.
Further, the financial strength of the Company for executing such a large
project was evaluated. The eligibility criteria required that the applicant had
supplied specified Horse Power of Propulsion System in the preceding years of
the application due date. Further, the Company was required to have net worth
of Rs. 250 crore for the last Financial Year. The aforesaid eligibility
criteria ensured that the Company having adequate technical and financial
capacity, participated in the financial bid process. Further, it was necessary
for the Company to own the Intellectual Property Right (IPR) for the design of
the Propulsion System. Provisions in the Agreement would enable the Company to
upgrade its technology over the long supply period, in order to enable the
Ministry of Railways have the state of the art technology. By entrusting the
Company, the obligation of maintaining the locomotive up to the periodic
overhaul and also providing a guaranteed reliability and availability, enabled
MoR to have a cost effective product evaluated over its life cycle. Further,
the provision of allowing import of only a small proportion of the locomotives
and the requirement of indigenous production of a major proportion of
locomotives would ensure development of ancillary units, creation of jobs and
also development of backward region. The indigenous production would lead to
reduction in costs and also make it a true ‘Make in India’ concept. This is
captured through an annual 3% reduction of the price of the locomotives
commencing from the 4th Year of supply. This model would enable
India to transform it into a major hub for production of locomotives and would
develop a market for maintenance of locomotives. The key performance indicators
of ensuring a high level of availability and reliability of the locomotives as
part of maintenance obligation would lead to better availability of the freight
trains for further utilization. The latest state of the art technology of the
locomotives would also enable Ministry of Railways to achieve considerable
costs economies in operation and also improve the throughput of freight trains.
Additionally, the locomotives being energy efficient and having capacity of
regeneration would reduce the energy costs which would translate in a reduced
cost of operations.
3.
Comparison with Global Benchmarks
These locomotives
would be best-in-class and would be of high horsepower, with high energy
efficiency) and reliability. These locos will help railways improve its average
speed of freight trains from the present level of 25 kmph to about 50-60 kmph
and thereby improve its throughput and enhance line capacity.
Horse Power to
trailing load ratio will improve from the present value of 1:1 to 2:1.
International benchmark of Horse Power to Trailing load is more than two for
freight operations. This factor enables faster movement of freight trains
thereby improving throughput and enhancing line capacity.
The Guaranteed
availability of locomotive is at least 95% and reliability is one failure for
every 200,000 Km (for Electric) / 75,000 Km (for Diesel) of operation of a
Locomotive. These performance bench marks are at par with Global Standards.
4.
Price Discovery
The price discovered for the latest
state of the art technology works out to less than the in-house production cost
despite the investment in setting up of the factory and the maintenance
facilities by the JV Company.
5.
Project Benefit
The projects will bring in private investment of about
₹ 1300 crore for each project for setting up the
locomotive factory and maintenance depots and bring in state-of-the-art
technology to Indian Railways to run heavy haul trains and improve energy
efficiency. This will help Indian Railways to modernize its rolling stock and
improve upon its 20 year old technology.
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