Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Corporation won the contract for more than Rs 1 billion.
New Delhi:
A Chinese company won a contract for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut rapid rail transit system corridor, the first in the months since the clash between the two nations in Ladakh. Government sources said the project is financed by the Asian Development Bank, whose guidelines clearly state that suppliers from all member countries are eligible to participate in the tender and there can be no discrimination.
The sources said that Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Corporation won the contract of more than 1 billion rupees as it was the lowest bidder and met all the criteria for the project, which is being supervised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The 5.6 km underground stretch of the RRTS Corridor project, which will connect the national capital with Meerut, via Ghaziabad, was awarded six months after a controversy over the Chinese firm emerging as the lowest bidder. Last year, the right-wing group Swadeshi Jagran Manch demanded that the contract not be awarded to the company.
Since the clash in Ladakh peaked on June 15 last year, with the clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in action, there has been a backlash against China and their products by business organizations and civil society.
Later, the Center modified the rules to promote the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign, increasing the odds of Chinese products and services in the country. The new rules say that all foreign companies registering fresh produce for sale in India will have to mention the “country of origin” in the government e-marketplace, an online portal run by the state.
More than 50 apps with Chinese links were also blocked, including the popular TikTok, WeChat, and UC Browser. The government attributed it to information that they were engaged in activities “detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the defense of India, state security and public order.”
The government had also banned Chinese equipment for 4G upgrade from state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. A Chinese company that received a Rs 471 crore rail contract was shown the door in view of “poor progress”.
The Delhi-Meerut RRTS project is a high-speed regional transit system that involves the construction of an 82-kilometer stretch that will be covered in less than an hour by a high-speed train. The project was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February last year.
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