Railways shortens tender process for projects

To speed up work on railway projects, the national transporter has substantially shortened the tendering process for any venture that costs up to Rs 2 crore, according to a letter from the Railway Board to the sector's general managers.

The move comes days after Railway Minister Piyush Goyal lashed out at officials for an 18-month long delay in the tender process for a new foot-over-bridge (FOB) at Mumbai's Elphinstone Road Station, where 23 people were killed in a stampede last month.

The FOB was a part of the 2016 Railway Budget.

The letter dated October 23 said for projects worth up to Rs 1 crore invited through e-tendering, the tender notice period could be reduced to 21 days by the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) or the Chief Administrator Officer (CAO) without seeking financial approval and up to 14 days with the concurrence of the finance department.

For tenders valued Rs 1-2 crore, the tender notice period can be reduced to up to 14 days by the CAO or the DRM with the concurrence of the finance department.

The existing tender notice period is at least a month for large projects. However, for works of up to Rs 50 lakh, CAOs and DRMs are empowered to reduce the notice period with the approval of the finance department.

Speaking soon after the September 29 stampede on the FOB at Elphinstone Road station, Goyal had questioned why it took months to finalise a tender and indicated that the process of tendering in the Railways would be reviewed.

The proposed Rs 9.5-crore, 40-foot wide Elphinstone Road station FOB was part of a Rs 45-crore fund earmarked for escalators, FOBs and automatic ticket vending machines for the Mumbai suburban section in the Budget.

Its tender, however, was floated on September 29, the day of the stampede.