RailTel – the RailwaysCPSE which provides broadband and VPN services – has not yet participated in KAVACH – the indigenously designed train collision avoidance system – tenders, as it still has “doubts about the readiness of the product”. The product is being developed in partnership with Quadrant.
The company had earlier this year signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Quadrant Future Tek exclusively partnering the CPSE for implementation across projects in India and overseas. However, RailTel top brass say the product is still under testing.
Incidentally, Indian Railways have broken down the train collision avoidance system tenders and scope of work into smaller parts that include tower installations, installation at stations, track-side installations, installation on locomotives and so on. In fact, earlier this year, the Railways floated tenders – cumulatively worth over ₹2000 crore - for procuring components, and route installation of the system across states like West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.
Sanjai Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, RailTel, during a recent post-result analyst call, said the company continues to be in talks with Quadrant over getting the product ready on time. RailTel, however, has been getting signal side orders from the Railways, but it has not participated in the “last station loco KAVACH” tender.
“So we are getting success in the signalling works... We did not participate in the last station loco KAVACH tender because we had some doubts about the readiness of the product of our partner. And we are still in discussion with our partner whether his products will be ready by the time it is required. So though it is a big kitty, we are cautious at the same time. Because this is a new product, and it is still under testing and all that. Therefore we decided as a Board that we should not be in a hurry. That is why we have not gone into recent tenders,” Kumar said during an earnings call.
“But there are tenders still and we are continuously tracking and making rational decisions to participate in these tenders,” he added. The immediate opportunity size for KAVACH in the next five to six months is pegged at around ₹1000 crore, he says.
LTE tenders likely in December
According to Kumar, KAVACH LTE tenders are likely in December, if not postponed further.
“But tower infrastructure (for KAVACH) in now being created by Railways; and we have bagged a few orders for construction of those towers in South Central Railways,” he said.
Approval for new KAVACH vendors are still awaited.
The recently approved train collision avoidance system or KAVACH 4.0 is an upgrade over the existing one. The system has three-to-four main components, that include a radio frequency identification (RFID) technology – integrated into the tracks and wireless devices; RFID readers - equipped in the driver’s cabin (locomotive); radio infrastructure – that includes towers and modems at railway stations; and, cabin instrument panels that display signals and speed limits.
Roll-out
According to a recent review carried out by the Railways, the latest version of KAVACH installation has been completed across 1568 rKMs, while installation work is currently underway of 3000 rKM. Bids have been invited for another 14,735 rKM.
“Bids were invited by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) for installation of KAVACH on 10,000 coaches and were opened in October. The financial bids are under evaluation at the moment,” the official said.
In September, KAVACH 4.0 was installed and commissioned between Kota and Sawai Madhopur (in Rajasthan) on a 108 km section. Trials are carried out along 84 km of the Ahmedabad - Vadodara section too.