At Rs 1,421 cr, BEML to supply 150 Metro cars

Commuters of Namma Metro struggling to get a place to stand can breathe a sigh of relief as Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) has signed a contract to supply 150 intermediate cars for Namma Metro at a cost of Rs 1,421 crore. A release from BEML said on Monday that the additional cars will be used to augment existing 3-car trains supplied by the company to 6-car trains. The supply of cars shall commence from June 2018, it said.

A senior official in BEML refused to give more details while Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola only said the contract had been finalised. The BEML official said details of the contract would be unveiled at a programme next month.

An agreement was signed by Kharola and BEML chairman and managing director Deepak Kumar Hota, the release said. According to the bid document, the cars must be compatible and suitable for integration with existing trains of phase-I.

BMRCL had called tenders for design, manufacture, supply, testing and commissioning of 150 intermediate cars. Metro is funding the project through a loan from French development agency Agence Française de Développement.

BEML has supplied more than 1,000 metro cars to Delhi, Bengaluru and Jaipur Metro corporations. It will also supply cars to Kolkata Metro.