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Massive swindling alleged in locomotive deal
editor on 19 August, 2008 14:21:27 | 409 times read
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Lanka dissent -The Railway Department has decided to offer a tender for 15 rail locomotives to the highest bidder, department sources said. The tender that closed on May 9th had eight responses, and seven accepted bids had prices ranging between Rs. 144 million and Rs. 465 million per locomotive. The lowest offer was by CSR Qishuyan Locomotive Company of China and the highest by America's Electro-Motive Diesel. The other bidders are Loric Import and Export Corporation (Rs. 158 m), China National Import and Export Corporation (Rs. 160 m), Zhengzhou Railcar Propulsion Engineering R&D Centre (Rs. 162 m), RITES of India (Rs. 240 m) and National Railway Equipment Corporation (Rs. 312 m). The General Manager of Railways has earlier recommended that the locomotives should be suitable for the upcountry track and with maintenance features. A technical evaluation committee, in a report submitted to the cabinet and then to the government tender board, had said the maximum tonnage of a locomotive should be 92 tonnes. However, the tender board has revised the tonnage to 111 tonnes without any consultation to facilitate the passage of the highest bid by the American company, railway department sources allege. Railway engineers point out the upcountry rail track, including bridges and culverts, will have to be renovated to enable the use of locomotives of such a tonnage, which will be time consuming and highly expensive. Rejecting certain faults in tender submissions, the tender board had rejected all other offers and approved the two highest bids, the sources say. Railway engineers allege a massive swindling of money in this transaction, noting that the money for 15 locomotives at the rate of the highest bid could easily buy 48 locomotives from the lowest bidder.
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