Major rail media packages put on hold; industry concerns under the lens

Railways has issued a corrigendum for three tendered packages whereby the respective bids to the packages have been put on hold indefinitely. The three packages are: Package no.44 (Western Railway Zone excluding Suburban section of Churchgate to Virar), Package No. 45 (Central Railway Zone excluding Mumbai Area) and Package No. 48 (Northern Railway Zone excluding Delhi Area). The dates for technical bid and submission of supporting documents have been postponed until further notice.

Pertinent to note that industry had raised several issues the pre-bid meetings conducted in Delhi and Mumbai. “The biggest concern was regarding permissions to be obtained from the local authorities of the respective cities for putting up media on railway land. Dealing with different local authorities is a time-consuming process which has caused the delay in the matter,” said an official closely associated with these developments. The official said the railways is addressing the issues raised by the industry but there is no clarity on when they will be resolved.