Steel and Energy Company Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) said it completed the delivery of its first ever rail order for the supply of rails to the Indian Railways four months ahead of schedule.
On July 28, 2018, JSPL had bagged 20% of the Rs 2,500 crore global tender by the Indian Railways to supply long rails. JSPL was to supply 97,400 tonnes of rails to the national transporter over a period of one year.
The company started dispatching the first consignments of rails on August 15, 2018 from its Raigarh plant and completed delivery of total quantities on Monday, almost four months ahead of schedule.
Seven foreign steel companies, and JSPL had submitted their bids in the global tender. JSPL was the only Indian steelmaker in the fray, and was assured a 20% quota under a ‘Make in India’ clause.
JSPL is the only private sector manufacturer of rails and the only manufacturer of head hardened rail in the country.
Indian Railways had invited the global tender for procuring around 4.87 lakh metric tonnes of rails to meet the shortfall of supply from the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
This was the first time in three decades that rail procurement was opened for the private sector.
“We are proud to have contributed to government’s Make-In-India initiatives and complete such a challenging project far ahead of schedule”, said Naushad Akhter Ansari, Joint MD of JSPL.
The foreign companies that participated in the bid were Sumitomo Corporation, Angang Group International, Voestalpine Schienen, East Metals, CRM Hong Kong, British Steel France Rail and Atlantic Steel.
In February, JSPL had bagged an additional order for the supply of 30,000 tonnes of long rails for Indian Railways.
The additional order came on top of a one lakh tonne order the company had received from the global tender. The new order, which came under the same global tender increased JSPL’s order size by 30% to Rs 650 crore.
JSPL is part of the USD 22 billion OP Jindal group. JSPL has its presence in core sectors like steel, power, mining and infrastructure.
The company has already supplied rails to Iran and Bangladesh and to the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India.