Kavach Part-III: Allegations of Rushed Tenders to Benefit a Few Companies

Admin

Readers may read our recent aricles on the subject by senior retired railway experts-

23 Nov: “KAVACH – Race against time to extend undue favours”

24 Nov: “Kavach Part-II: Railway Management giving undue favours to the companies”

We invite the stakeholders mentioned here to share their perspectives and versions of events—we assure to give them space fairly. These stories have been carefully curated by senior and highly respected retired railway officers who are committed to avoiding sensationalism

A major #controversy may be brewing around the #Kavach railway safety project, one of India’s most high-profile initiatives. There have been unanswered basic questions like—if this is a #signalling system when it is supposed to be an aid to the driver. Some #Loco-Inspectors (LIs) have shared with #Railwhispers that displays of Kavach are redundant for #locomotive driving and are distracting them. This has been corroborated with senior #electrical officers handling operations when we asked if the big display is useful while driving as claimed by some LIs. So, why has this been provided when driver is not supposed to look at it while driving?

Industry insiders claim that new #tenders have been issued in a hurry to extend benefits to three existing suppliers whose approvals are either expired or about to expire.

What triggered the issue – The Research Designs and Standards Organisation (#RDSO) had conditionally approved three companies for manufacturing Kavach systems — #HBLEngineering, #Kernex Microsystems and #Medha. Their approvals were granted with a very clear clause:

“they must complete certain mandatory technical requirements, including functional testing, within 180 days, failing which their approvals would automatically lapse”.

The 180-day period has already expired for HBL Engineering and is about to expire for the remaining two firms. According to reliable sources, none of the three has completed the required mandatory testing, which means:

  • HBL’s approval has already lapsed on 12 November 2025, and
  • Kernex and Medha are also on the verge of losing approval.

Fresh tenders raise eyebrows—Despite this situation, in November 2025 the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (#CLW) and the Integral Coach Factory (#ICF) issued fresh tenders worth thousands of new Kavach systems — around 6,300 and 2,300 units respectively.

Industry observers allege that these tenders were floated quickly with an ulterior motive:

“to award new contracts before the conditional approvals of the firms expire, allowing them to remain eligible despite failing to meet mandatory requirements”.

Why is the timing so significant? Behind the scenes, suppliers are reportedly facing difficulties with earlier orders.

For example, against an order of 3,300 Kavach units, Kernex supplied nearly 300 systems but could install only around 20, reportedly because problems were found in the #hardware and #software during installation. Locomotive sheds refused to install the remaining equipment.

A similar situation exists for the other two suppliers.

However, under the existing #contract terms, extension of delivery deadlines is strictly not allowed.

Therefore, industry insiders believe the new tenders are being used:

  • to give the companies new deadlines, and
  • to allow them to install the unused systems from previous orders under these new contracts.

The big question—Critics are asking how new tenders can be awarded to firms that:

  • have not met mandatory #Safety and #Testing conditions, and
  • are facing automatic withdrawal of approval as per RDSO rules.

Potential fallout

If the allegations gain further traction, the procurement decisions for this high-visibility national project could soon be in the spotlight, possibly even leading to a political storm. To be continued..