L&T, HCC among the frontrunners
Consortiums competing for award of underground Metro rail projects
Out of the nine consortia, which were in the fray for securing the contract to construct Mumbai’s first underground Metro rail route, seven have emerged as lowest bidders. So, even though the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation officials maintained that the evaluation process is still not over, the shares of companies, which were tipped to be the frontrunners, shot in the market.
The MMRC had invited tenders for the 33.5-km fully underground Metro in seven contract packages, each involving about 4-5 km of tunneling and 3 to 5 underground stations. In all, the MMRC has received 31 bids from the nine consortia.
“We have opened the bids, but the financial evaluation is still on. So the process has not been concluded. Once all approvals are in place, we will definitely share the details,” Ashwini Bhide, Managing Director, MMRC, said.
Engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, in partnership with Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co, is said to have emerged as the lowest bidder for two contract packages — a 3.5 km section from Cuffe Parade to CST and the 2.7 km Marol-SEEPZ section. A consortium comprising J. Kumar Infra-Projects Ltd and China Railway No.3 Engineering Group is said to be the lowest bid for the 6.99 km section, which will pass through the business district of Bandra-Kurla Complex from Dharavi to the domestic airport. JKIL is also the lowest bidder for its adjoining section -- from the domestic airport to Marol, which is a 3.5 km stretch. It will crisscross international airport Terminal 2.
Meanwhile, the Hindustan Construction Company-OSJC
Moscow consortium is the lowest bidder for the 4.11 km stretch from CST to Mumbai Central. Another package will cover the stretch between Mumbai Central and Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi, spanning 4.8 km. A consortium led by Dogus-Soma Developers has emerged as the lowest bidder for this stretch. On the other hand, a consortium comprising ITD Cement, Tata Projects and Continental Engineering is the lowest bidder for the 4.8 km stretch from Siddhivinayak to Dharavi. Another official, on condition of anonymity, added, “Normally, the final approval of these bids is announced through the JICA. We had advised the consortia not to announce the outcome in the media yet.” The third line Metro project in the city is estimated to cost Rs 23,136 crore and is being implemented on a cash-contract basis. The Centre has already inked a loan agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency, which will provide Rs 13,235 crore (57 per cent of the project cost).