Underground section of phase II Namma metro moves ahead

Namma Metro’s revised plan of inviting bids only for two of the four portions ofthe 13.92-km underground stretch (Reach 6 of Phase II) has worked in its favour. The construction arm of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) emerged the lowest bidder for building the two UG parcels (totalling 5.65 km). Its quote was 17.5% more than the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation’s estimate.

Although higher by 17%, the bid is a victory for BMRCL, considering how it cancelled the tendering process for construction of the same stretch, nearly a year ago. All four bidders quoted about 69% higher than BMRCL’s estimates, leading to suspicion that all the construction firms had ganged up. The project was retendered separately.

THE LOWEST BIDDER

On Friday, L&T emerged the lowest bidder for two underground projects: the 2.76-km stretch from Vellara Junction and Shivajinagar (Package 2) and 2.88-km stretch from Shivaji nagar to Pottery Town. The company had quoted Rs 1,329.14 crore and Rs 1,299.23 crore for them, respectively. This is about Rs 391 crore (combined) more than BMRCL’s estimates.

The bid amount of Mumbai-headquartered Afcons Infrastructure was closest to L&T’s in both the packages. Afcons had quoted about Rs 13 crore more than L&T for Package

Totally, L&T’s bid was Rs 16 crore lesser than Afcons, it is learnt.

The two other companies that participated in the bids were Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and ITD Gulermak (joint venture). HCC appears to have got its calculations wrong as it quoted 64% higher than BMRCL’S estimate in Package 2. The company did not participate in Package 3.

The BMRCL stands to save Rs 1,850 crore if the prices quoted for Package 2 and Package 3 in the fresh bids are compared with the 2018 bids, which were cancelled.

UG SECTION
The 13.92-km underground stretch is part of the 21-km Gottigere-Nagawara line and runs underground from Dairy Circle and Nagawara. The UG section was split into four packages for speedier construction. While the financial bids of Package 2 and Package 3 are already opened, BMRCL recently invited tenders for Package 1 (Dairy Circle-Vellara Junction) and Package 4 (Tannery Road-Nagawara) projects.