Govt to launch reverse auctioning in rail supplying system

The government is contemplating launching a 'reverse auction process' to supply rails for railway projects. JSPL MD, V R Sharma, informed that they were apprised that Indian Railways is going to launch this process and are waiting for the government to launch the scheme.

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and state-owned SAIL are the only companies in India producing various grades of rails at their facilities at Raigarh and Bhilai, both located in Chhattisgarh. Earlier, there was only one supplier Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) to railways. After the launch of the process, a company that offers lower price can bag order of supplying rails to the Indian Railways but now, more players are there in the competition. That's why the Indian Railways is going to launch the reverse auction process. It may be recalled that in July 2018, JSPL announced bagging 20 per cent of the ₹2,500-crore global tender by the Railways to supply long rails. Until then, according to a memorandum of understanding, Indian Railways was procuring rails exclusively from SAIL. After it enters into the rail supply to railways, the company has till now supplied various grades of rails for several completed and ongoing projects. Both SAIL and JSPL can full fill the entire demand of Indian Railways and there is no point Indian Railways should import rails for their requirements. While JSPL operates one million ton per annum (MTPA) rail mill at its 3.6 MTPA integrated steel plant at Raigarh, SAIL has set up a new 1.2 MTPA universal rail mill at its plant in Bhilai, to produce different types of rails.