Wagon repair shop at Kazipet finally on track

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited notifies award of contract; project has been a controversial issue with Telangana government demanding a full fledged ‘coach manufacturing factory’ and the Centre firm on it being a wagon repair workshop 

The much-debated wagon repair workshop at Kazipet by the Indian Railways is finally taking off with the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) notifying the award of ₹361.79-crore work to city-based Power Mech–Taikisha JV last week.

Senior railway officials informed that the private agency quoted the lowest after technical and financial bids were called under the EPC-engineering, procurement and construction mode. RVNL general manager Alok Kumar Mishra issued a letter of acceptance to the company following the successful bid.

The project has been a hot potato between the Central government and the Telangana government for the past few years with the latter demanding a full fledged ‘coach manufacturing factory’ while the former firm on it being a wagon repair or ‘periodical wagon overhauling workshop at Kazipet.

The officials clarified that the railways had the wagon overhauling unit plan for a long time. Though initially it was proposed at Secunderabad, it was later shifted to Kazipet as part of the AP State Reorganisation Act, with a request for allotment of 160 acres.

Land acquisition took a while due to legal tangles and claims from local farmers. It was only recently that the State government managed to hand over the entire land parcel to the railways to take up the work but not before ministers at both the Centre and State levels had a go at each other.

The works to be taken up now include civil and track works, which form the majority of the work estimated to cost about ₹208.39 crore, mechanical works estimated to cost ₹115.77 crore, electrical works of ₹35.45 crore, and ₹2.17 crore of telecommunication works.

The selected firm has been directed to submit a performance security of about ₹10.85 crore, which is about 3% of the contract, within 28 days of the issuance of letter of acceptance. The scheduled completion date has been marked to 730 days from the appointed date which could be on the 15th day of signing the agreement and nearly a month after performance security is delivered.