The government is expected to launch a 'reverse auction process' to supply rails for railway projects, JSPL Managing Director V R Sharma said.
After the launch of the process, a firm that offers lower price can get order of supplying rails to the Indian Railways, the industry executive said.
'Recently, we (were) apprised that Railways is going to launch a reverse auction process for supply of rails. We are waiting for the government to launch the scheme,' he told while replying to a question related to JSPL's rail business.
Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and state-owned SAIL are the only firms in India producing
several grades of rails at their facilities at Raigarh and Bhilai, both set in Chhattisgarh.
Sharma said that prior, there was only one supplier – Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) – to railways. 'Now, more players are there in the competition.
That's why the Indian Railways is going to launch the reverse auction process.' In July 2018, JSPL proclaimed bagging 20 per cent of the Rs 2,500-crore global tender by the Railways to supply long rails.
Until then, as per a memorandum of understanding, the national transporter was procuring rails exclusively from government-owned SAIL.
Ever since its entry into the rail supply to railways, the company has till now supplied various grades of rails for a number of completed and ongoing projects.
Sharma further added both 'SAIL and JSPL can fulfil the entire demand of Indian Railways. There is no point Indian Railways should import rails for their requirements'.
While JSPL operates one million tonne per annum (MTPA) rail mill at its 3.6 MTPA integrated steel plant at Raigarh, SAIL has established a novel 1.2 MTPA universal rail mill at its plant in Bhilai, to produce different types of rails.
