Railways sanctions shipment of 23 locomotives: international consortium engaged
Pakistan Railways has approved the shipment of 23 of the total 58 diesel electric locomotives from a consortium of US, Germany and China at a cost of Rs 19.40 billion, it is learnt. Well-placed sources told
Business Recorder that a 4-member pre-shipment inspection team of PR has returned from China after inspecting the specifications of the locomotives.
The team has submitted its report to the Railways headquarter, expressing satisfaction over the specification of the locomotives and gave green signal for their shipment. First batch of the locomotives is likely to reach on January 5, 2014 while the process of shipment of all the approved 23 locomotives would be completed by June 30.
The government had placed the order with a consortium of US, Germany and China having leading role in provision of 58 locomotives. Both the parties have agreed and Pakistan will import 23 locomotives, including 10 each of 3,000 hp and 2,000 hp in the initial stage, which would be then thoroughly assessed from all aspects. After vigorous trial (to run in winter and summer), the government would be in a position to notice their performance and give go ahead signal either to import the remaining 35 locomotives or not.
Sources added that the American company Caterpillar would provide the prime mover (main motor) of the locomotives while Germany would provide some other spare parts and the remaining assembly equipment and parts by a Chinese company. Chinese locomotives imported in the past did not have good track record, therefore it was decided to import the locomotives through a consortium, officials added. The order was placed after open bidding. Following the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules three companies were short-listed, said an official, adding that all the procedural requirements were fulfilled which is why nobody raised any objection to the deal.
The government has given a revenue target of Rs 21.60 billion to Pakistan Railways for the current fiscal year; however it is expecting to generate Rs 25 billion with the increase in freight operations, punctuality and addition of locomotives. There were 465 locomotives when the incumbent government took over, of which only 140 were in running condition. However, 35 locomotives were locally repaired while 80 more would be repaired by the end of current fiscal year, said the official, adding that only eight locomotives were available for freight train, which has now been increased to 25 for generating more revenue.
Railways sanctions shipment of 23 locomotives: international consortium engaged | Business Recorder
