Indian rail operator Concor invites box manufacturer bids

India’s flagship government policy ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliance), multimodal logistics operator Concor has issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) with the aim of preparing the way forward for local container manufacturers in the forthcoming competitive tender process.

Concor is proposing to procure 6,000 containers of 20ft high cube containers, with a minimum developmental order of 1,000 containers, distributed amongst a maximum of six successful bidders. The rail operator has already placed a developmental order of 1,000 containers with BHEL and Braithwaite & Co. Ltd, making a total of 8,000 containers. The process of Two Packet Open Tender will be floated soon.

Container News reported that domestic players are thought to be the frontrunners in the competitive bidding process. Naresh Kumar – Director at Kalyani Cast Tech said, “We are already manufacturing containers as per the specification of Concor and international standards. Capacity wise we are the biggest [Indian] manufacturer of containers. We qualify through all the technical requirements from Concor”.

Potential bidders can submit their responses to Concor’s EoI by 3 May 2021 at the latest. An interactive meeting will also be held via video conferencing on 15 April, 2021.