Earlier, the railways had cancelled a Rs 471-crore project of setting up signal posts and telecommunication network

The Indian Government has further tightened the screws on Chinese economic interests in the country by dismissing a tender for 44 semi high speed Vande Bharat Express trains which had a Chinese venture as a contender.

According to a report carried by India Today, the Railway Ministry in a tweet stated that a fresh tender will be released soon for the same project, as per the Revised Public Procurement order.

The report further stated that the Chinese firm, CRRC Pioneer Electric (India) Private Limited, is a joint venture between China-based CRRC Yongji Electric Co Ltd and Gurugram-based Pioneer Fil-med Private Limited. It was the only foreign venture that joined the team of contenders, while other companies were based out of several cities of India like Delhi, Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Earlier, the railways had cancelled a Rs 471-crore project of setting up signal posts and telecommunication network for a stretch of 417-km on the Kanpur-Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) section which was to be completed by a Chinese company.

According to the government officials cited in the report, the Train 18 that was launched in 2019 was worth Rs. 100 crores out of which Rs. 35 crores were spent on the propulsion system alone, while the recently dismissed tender for 44 such propulsion systems would be more than Rs. 1,500 crores.

Though there has been no clarification provided as to why the tender has been cancelled, but the decision came to light at the time when several internal measures are being taken by India to create a pressure on China to withdraw the Chinese troops from the Eastern Ladakh borders where a faceoff at the Galwan Valley claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers on June 15.