The Indian Navy will soon invite tenders for building six conventional submarines after a high-level committee of the Defence Ministry submitted its report identifying shipyards capable of executing the about Rs 60,000 crore project.

“The Committee has visited all the shipyards in the country and has submitted its report recently. It is under consideration of the Defence Ministry,” defence sources said.

Though they remained tightlipped about the name of shipyards that have been shortlisted, the sources said a Request for Proposal (RFP) will be issued soon once the report has been studied in detail.

NEW DELHI : Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has floated tenders for setting up its premium Executive Lounge at 16 more stations that provides airport lounge-like facilities to passengers at an affordable rate.

The new stations where the Executive Lounge will come up are Jaipur, Vijayawada, Kathgodam, Sealdah, Howrah, Dhanbad, Patna, Ajmer, Darbhanga, Bhubaneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, Bilaspur, Secunderabad, Ahmedabad, Puri and Nagpur. IRCTC, a ‘mini-Ratna’ PSU of Indian Railways, had started the facility at New Delhi station in November 2012. Earlier this month, it signed MoUs with the railway administration to set up the swanky lounge at Agra Cantt, Lucknow and Gorapkhpur stations, added the release.

“We are enthused by the growing response to the Executive Lounge that is considered a showpiece in our portfolio of passenger amenities,” IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director Dr. A K Manocha said.

“The decision to set up lounges at 16 more stations is part of our efforts to provide top-rate facilities to travelling passengers and make their journey, especially waiting at stations, a pleasant one,” he added. Continue reading →