According to the report, decks were also being cleared to terminate the contract of the Chinese signalling behemoth China Railway Signal and Communication (CRSC) Corp., in the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.
The Railways Ministry on Thursday said that its Dedicated Freight Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) is going to terminate the mega-contract of a Chinese firm engaged in signaling works in Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier this week, DFCCIL, in a meeting with the World Bank, had stressed the need to terminate the contract in order to stick to the project deadline, sources told The Indian Express.
The World Bank, the funding agency for the project, is processing a request from DFCCIL to terminate the contract. “We received most of the information by June 9, and are currently reviewing the information provided,” a World Bank spokesperson stated in reply to queries from The Indian Express.
A subsidiary of the Chinese major, China Railway Signal and Communication Corporation (CRSC), bagged the contract for signaling works of over 400-km section of the tracks between New Bhaupur (Kanpur) and Mughalsarai (now Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction) stations. The contract is worth Rs 470 crore.
Railways has announced that the contract would be terminated for non-performance.
Railway spokesman: DFCCIL has decided to terminate Chinese signalling firm contract. @IndianExpress
[Beijing National Railway Research & Design Institute of Signal & Communication Group is a solely-owned subsidiary of China Railway Signal & Communication (CRSC) Corp] https://t.co/wAUSlvvsFY pic.twitter.com/aredzDu1oG
— Avishek Dastidar (@avishekgd) June 18, 2020
As first reported in The Indian Express on Wednesday, Railway officials did not attribute the decision to the tension between India and China in Ladakh. However, the timing of the revelation has been linked to the standoff.
DFCCIL had been dissatisfied with the work of Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication Group Co. Ltd, a solely-owned subsidiary of CRSC, for a while. “In April, DFCCIL brought to the Bank’s notice delays in implementation of this contract. The Bank had sought more details on the contract implementation issues,” the World Bank spokesperson stated.
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