The BHEL-led consortium emerged as the L2 bidder against stiff competition, and has been awarded a contract for 80 Vande Bharat Trains, valued at more than Rs.23,000 crore (excluding taxes and duties). The order value comprises supply of trainsets for Rs.9,600 crore and balance for maintenance of the same for a period of 35 years.

The consortium shall manufacture, test, commission and supply 80 energy efficient Vande Bharat Trains at their manufacturing facilities and at Indian Railways' ICF-Chennai facility. The trains shall have design/operating speed of 176/160kmph (semi-high speed).

With BHEL being one of the major suppliers of rolling stock electrics to Indian railways, its scope will cover supply of propulsion system, i.e., IGBT-based traction converter-inverter, auxiliary converter, train control management system, motors, transformers, and mechanical bogies. The products shall be manufactured at BHEL's manufacturing facilities at Bengaluru, Bhopal and Jhansi.

BHEL's consortium partner TWL, being the rolling stock manufacturer for Indian Metros and Indian Railways, shall be responsible for the mechanical coach building. The final integration, testing, commissioning and maintenance of the trains shall be jointly done by BHEL and TWL.

The BHEL-TWL consortium was the only fully homegrown Indian bidder amongst the five bidders, and is a big step towards achieving the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.