For the first time ever, government owned and operated Indian Railways is likely to import steel rails for its track renewal program and domestic steel producer Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is unlikely to meet the full demand of the transporter, a government official said on Friday, September 29.
The government official said that, while SAIL is expected to supply 1,145,000 mt of rails during the rest of the current fiscal year, Indian Railways would face a shortfall of around 314,000 mt which would be met by floating international tenders.
The official said that, early in the current financial year when the shortfall in supplies was forecast, Indian Railways mooted the idea of sourcing rails through imports but floatation of an import tender was not followed through in view of the government policy of sourcing steel from domestic manufacturers for all government-funded infrastructure projects.
But considering that Indian Railways has identified ageing track as one of the major causes of falling safety standards of the transporter, the government is expected to make an exception in the case of sourcing rails from international suppliers, he added.