IT majors vying for multi-crore Indian Rail contract: report

Indian technology firms, including Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro, are in pursuit of an outsourcing contract from Indian Railways worth up to Rs2500 crore, according to the Economic Times.

Indian Railways plans to procure a human resources management system and other modules for integrating and automating its payroll, accounting and pension functions, the newspaper reported on Monday.

The organisation plans to spend around $1.5 billion over the next 2-3 years on technology. "We will be coming out with a request for proposal very soon. The idea is to have build-operate-transfer models with the vendors," the paper quoted an unidentified senior railway official as saying.

A spokeswoman for TCS declined to comment on the report, while Wipro officials were not immediately available.

Indian Railways also plans to outsource its train scheduling and management system, in a deal valued at around Rs450 crore, the paper said. Mahindra Satyam is also bidding for this project, it said.