Alstom preparing to bid for ₹2,000-crore Chennai Metro Rail order

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The tender for the 168 cars, for which bids in the next few days, will require trains customised to Chennai Metro’s existing infrastructure, including its signalling systems, platforms and door-spacing specifications

By T E Raja Simhan

Updated - October 17, 2026 at 02:33 PM.

Champak Panda | Photo Credit: Supplied

Alstom is preparing to bid for a Chennai Metro Rail contract worth around ₹2,000 crore to supply 168 metro cars for the existing Phase I network.

This comes at a time when it is set to begin production of another 96 cars for the city’s expanding metro system in November, said Champak Panda, Managing Director of Rolling Stock and Component Business of Alstom India.

The tender for the 168 cars, for which bids in the next few days, will require trains customised to Chennai Metro’s existing infrastructure, including its signalling systems, platforms and door-spacing specifications.

This differs from the requirements for trains being supplied for Phase II, he told businessline at its Sri City planton Wednesday.

“We don’t want to miss an opportunity to serve the people of Chennai, and we want to continue our association with Chennai Metro,” he added.

Alstom is yet to finalise its bid price. The industry is facing higher prices of steel, copper and electrical equipment. Geopolitical disruptions and increases in oil prices have added to the pressure on commodity costs, Panda said.

Alstom’s Sri City facility, which began operations with its first Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) project in 2010, has supplied around 1,500 cars and currently manufactures 250-300 cars annually, he said.

The CMRL is also introducing additional safety features in the trains under the new tender, which Alstom is prepared to implement, he added.

Alstom has invested over ₹2,500 crore across its Indian facilities over the past five to 10 years. Further investments will depend on project requirements and the need to upgrade manufacturing technologies, he said.

Alstom’s trains are technically capable of driverless operation, but deployment depends on the metro operator’s decision and the availability of compatible signalling infrastructure.

Operators seeking to introduce driverless services on new lines while retaining driver-operated systems on older corridors must address the challenges of integrating the two systems, Panda said.

Panda said Alstom’s overall order backlog in India was 900-1,000 cars, with approximately 600 at Sri City and another 300-400 across at Savli in Gujarat that is more in to exports.

“We have built enough capacity and this is why we are careful in taking additional global orders,” Panda said, adding that the company did not want export commitments to constrain its ability to serve India’s growing metro market.

Published on October 15, 2026

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