Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd eyes metro operations, global expansion with Deutsche Bahn

Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) plans to enter the metro operation and maintenance (O&M) business, besides scaling up international partnerships.

The company is in talks with Germany's Deutsche Bahn (DB) for a partnership to undertake O&M contracts of Bangalore Metro, chairman and managing director Pradeep Gaur said in an interaction with ET. "DB has approached us to undertake O&M for metro projects... They are evaluating this partnership for Bangalore Metro," he said.

DB is also said to have been interested in bagging O&M rights for the Chennai Metro project. The German company already has a 12-year O&M contract for the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Rail Project.

Responding to queries from ET, DB said: "We are operating the Namo Bharat corridor in Delhi and ready to explore further O&M projects or partnership discussions in India."

Gaur said RVNL is involved in metro rail infrastructure development projects. "We are undertaking metro projects in Chennai, Indore, Ahmedabad, Surat, Nagpur and Pune. These are beyond the Kolkata Metro project which was awarded on nomination by the Indian Railways," he said.

According to the chairman, RVNL is making a concerted push for non-Indian Railway projects. The company plans to expand to Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the UAE, Turkey, and Peru.

"Our overseas portfolio is hardly 5% of the ₹1 lakh crore order book today. We aim to raise our foreign projects portfolio to 50% of the total order book," Gaur said, adding that non-railway projects include transmission lines, solar projects and highways.

Responding to a query on whether RVNL may bid for infrastructure development at the Rs 76,220 crore Vadhavan port, Gaur said: "We are partnering with fellow railway public sector undertaking Container Corporation of India to bid for developing the Vadhavan port. They have expertise in logistics while we are specialised infrastructure developers."

Bids for the port project are expected to be called in the first half of the financial year 2025-26.

Commenting on the progress of the Vande Bharat sleeper variant trains, Gaur said: "A decision on the number of coaches and layout inside the trains is exclusively of the Indian Railways... The first prototype of Vande sleeper trains under this partnership (between RVNL and Russian companies) is expected to be rolled out around mid-calendar year-2026."