Chinese firm sues Indian Rlys after it terminates Rs 470 Cr. contract
New Delhi, June 18 In the middle of the Indian-China border standoff in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley, where 20 Indian soldiers, including an officer, were killed by PLA, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd decided to terminate the Rs 471 crore tender with the Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication Group Company Limited due to non-performance.
In 2016, the project was awarded to the Chinese firm for the signaling and telecommunications work in the section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, 417 km long Kanpur-Deen Dayal Upadhyay. The source confirmed the contract was awarded in June 2016 to the Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute.
After four years, the progress in the project was only 20 percent.
But a new twist came after the Chinese engineering firm which was chucked out of the contract recently has dragged Indian Railways to court against the move even as India served it the formal termination letter on Friday. Delhi High Court has been approached by the Chinese firm to prohibit DFCCIL from encashing its bank guarantee. The matter was heard on Thursday.
The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor of Eastern DFC is a freight-specific railway corridor under construction from northern to eastern India, expected to be completed by 2022.
The World Bank, which funds the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, has not yet issued a certificate of no-objection for the termination. Railways decided not to wait for the World Bank and to fund this portion of the project alone.
