the Indian public sector undertaking Rail Vikas Nigam Limited had earlier been pressing for a higher share in the deal to supply 120 Vande Bharat sleeper trains and maintain them for 35 years.
New Delhi: The ownership dispute between the India-Russia consortium that had planned to bring Vande Bharat sleeper trains appears to have been resolved, with The Hindu reporting that the Indian railway ministry was compelled to honour the joint venture in its original form thanks to looming deadlines.
On July 18, the Indian public sector undertaking Rail Vikas Nigam Limited has said in its disclosure that the RVNL, its wholly owned subsidiary Kinet Railway Solutions Limited, the Russian company Metrowagonmash and a joint stock company Locomotive Electronic Systems have signed a share purchase agreement.
Metrowagonmash is an engineering company based at Mytishchi in Russia, and specialises in transport building. It is a subsidiary of the TMH Group, the largest manufacturer of locomotive and rail equipment in Russia.
Under the current joint venture deal, reports Hindu, the RVNL has a minority stake of 25%, while Metrowagonmash retains a majority stake of 70%. Another 5% is held by Locomotive Electronic Systems.
RVNL’s earlier insistence that the terms of the joint venture be drastically flipped to give it 69% majority shareholding had pushed the understanding into uncertainty.
RVNL had argued, according to Hindu, that because multiple spare parts for the trains would have to be imported from western European and American counterparts, majority stake-holding on its part will lead to confidence among sellers considering that Russia had lost the goodwill of the west over the Ukraine-Russia war.
Economic Times had quoted senior TMH officials as having said then that RVNL’s demand was in violation of an “irrevocable and binding agreement” between the two entities.
The RVNL and Metrowagonmash consortium had won a a Rs 40,000-crore supply and maintenance contract for 120 of 200 Vande Bharat sleeper trains. Each costs Rs 120 crores. The consortium will have to maintain these trains for 35 years.
The rift had delayed the signing of the contract, it had been reported.
However, a June 2025 deadline, by when the consortium has to present the first two prototype trains for testing and trials is understood to have prodded RVNL to accept the current terms and sign the deal.
Credit : https://thewire.in/business/vande-bharat-rail-vikas-nigam-india-russia-joint-venture
