The Hindu Business Line : Bombardier, Gammon India team up for Dubai APM project

THE Canada-headquartered Bombardier Inc, a global manufacturer of transportation solutions, has zeroed in on Gammon India to forge an alliance to bid for the Automated People Mover (APM) project that will be part of the new satellite city coming up in Dubai.

The transportation major had recently signed an alliance with the Indian company and will be submitting a joint bid on November 16.

The Bombardier-Gammon duo is likely to encounter the Mitsubishi-Obayashi combine as a major contender for the project.

Mr Ben Dekhil, Regional Director, Middle East, Bombardier Transportation, told presspersons on the sidelines of the three-day Eurail exhibition 2005 held at Milan, Italy, that the company had signed a MoU with Gammon India and this could be converted into a full-fledged joint venture if it bagged the contract.

"We have not decided on the precise contours of the alliance yet," he said.

In fact, this will be the third project that Gammon India will be teaming up with Bombardier, the other two being a similar APM project in Singapore and the Delhi Metro project — the company, however, could not bag the Delhi project.

The Dubai APM project is part of the sprawling $1.5-billion City of Arabia satellite project.

The Automated People Mover, which is generally used to transport passengers from one spot to another in international airports, is proposed to be 6.5-km long, with 14 stations dotting this stretch.

According to Mr Dekhil, Gammon India will be handling the civil work part of the project, involving construction of stations, depots, via-ducts and operating control room, while Bombardier will handle the rest of the project, including vehicle manufacturing.

"The Dubai APM will be designed to ferry 1,500 passengers. While the first phase of the project is scheduled to be wrapped up within 32 months, the other phase will take another 18 to 20 months," he said.

On Bombardier's alliance with Gammon India, Mr Dekhil said: "We have had a very satisfying alliance with them (Gammon) and are comfortable executing projects with them."

He did not rule out the possibility of Bombardier teaming up with the Indian company for future projects in India as well as abroad. Bombardier is one of the leading manufacturers of innovative transportation solutions, ranging from regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment.

Its market spreads across the five continents, with high concentration in North America and Europe and more than 90 per cent of its revenues coming from markets outside Canada.

In the fiscal year ended January 31, 2005, Bombardier Transportation generated revenues of $7.6 billion and brought in new orders worth $4.4 billion.

According to a Bombardier spokesman, in this segment, the company is the market leader, with a global market share of 24 per cent, followed by Alstom with 19 per cent and Siemens with 15 per cent.

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