Railways cancels tender for 44 Vande Bharat Trains after China emerges as sole bidder

Furthering the nation's clarion call to boycott all things Chinese, the Indian Railways on Friday cancelled the tender for the manufacturing of 44 rakes of Train 18, after a Chinese company emerged as the sole foreign bidder. According to the Indian Railways, while domestic bidders were in place, a tender was floated on July 10 looking for a foreign bidder for manufacturing rakes of Train 18 also known as the 'Vande Bharat Express.' 

However, Chinese joint venture company CRRC Pioneer Electric (India) Private Limited emerged as the only foreign bidder expressing interest in manufacturing the semi-high speed train. Following this, the Indian Railways has decided to issue a new tender, rejecting China's bid for collaboration. 

While issuing an order the Indian Railways said, “Tender for manufacturing of 44 sets of semi high-speed train set (Vande Bharat) has been cancelled. A fresh tender will be floated within a week as per revised public procurement (Preference to Make in India) order."

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Meanwhile, the five domestic bidders include state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, the Bharat Industries, Sangrur, the Electrowaves Electronics (P) Limited, the MEDHA Servo Drives Private Limited and the Powernetics Equipment India Private Limited, according to the Railway Ministry.

Train 18 which was re-christened as 'Vande Bharat Express' made headlines back in October 2018, after the Indian Railways announced that it was manufactured with over 80 per cent indigenous material, furthering the concept of Make In India.

India's pledge to reject all things Chinese came after the violent face-off between the Indian Army and China's PLA along the LAC also known as the Galwan valley clashes of June 15, which ultimately claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers, inflicting undisclosed casualties on China's side. Launching a digital strike, the Central government then announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps, and then another 47 'clones' of the banned apps in India, giving a befitting reply to China, causing a huge setback in the communist country's business prospects in India.  

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