A consortium led by Chinese and Indian railway companies has been awarded the bid to conduct a feasibility study on a 1,200-kilometer high-speed railway line between New Delhi and Mumbai, after winning in the bidding process, beating 11 consortiums from Germany, France and Italy, the China Daily reported.
A statement released by China Railway Corporation (CRC) on Wednesday, Sept. 23, said that the consortium was led by Third Railway Survey and Design Institute Group Corporation, a subsidiary of China Railway Corporation.
"Chinese railway companies are competitive in terms of advanced technology, reliability and better price ratio," according to the statement.
In December, the Indian Railways published that it was seeking consultants for an engineering feasibility study on three proposed high-speed rail links: New Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai and New Delhi-Kolkata.
Although the feasibility study is only an initial step in a long process, the Chinese companies are confident that they will win the final bid for the high-speed rail project due to their extensive experience.
China has built about 17,000 km of high-speed railway network, which account for more than 60 percent of the world's total.
According to the report, the bidding award came at a time when China and Japan are battling to win the bid for a high-speed rail project in Indonesia.
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution said on Sept. 24 that the Indonesian government is withdrawing its earlier decision to cancel the project and instead proceed with the high-speed railway project.
Experts said that it is vital for China Railway Corporation to win the bid in India because it will pave the way for other rail projects.
Wang Mengshu, a tunnel and railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that China's high-speed rail technology has matured and it can serve the diversified railway needs of various countries.
"Chinese high-speed rail makers can provide lower prices than its rivals, and with rich experience in overseas railway construction, they can deliver the project in a shorter time," Wang said.