Mumbai Metro II will be re-tendered

Following termination of agreement with Reliance Infrastructure for the Mumbai Metro Line II project, the Maharashtra government will re-tender the project, a top official said here Thursday.

"The concession agreement arrived at between Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Metro Transport Pvt. Ltd has been terminated mutually. A formal communication from MMTPL for the return of the Rs.160 crore bank guarantee is awaited and the procedure to return it will follow immediately," said MMRDA Joint Project Director D. Kavathkar.

He added that once these formalities are completed, the MMRDA will re-tender the project and award it to the lowest bidder.

However, while admitting that this could take some time, Kavathkar declined to set any time-frame, saying that various clearances are being obtained from the higher authorities for the purpose.

As per original plans, the fully elevated 31.87-km-long Mumbai Metro Line II project with 27 stations was designed to provide a crucial east-west link in the city.

Maharashtra government sources said the entire procedure is likely to be completed by March next year and the ambitious project would be again on track though the possibility of delays was not being ruled out.

Earlier Thursday, Reliance Infrastructure said it had terminated the agreement for the Rs. 12,000 crore Mumbai Metro Line II project due to, what it said was, a failure of the Government of Maharashtra to fulfil its obligations.

The company said it has also asked for the refund of Rs.160 crore bank guarantee.

In a statement, Reliance Infra said the various obligations listed under the concession agreement were not fulfilled by the state government for the project to connect Charkop in north Mumbai with Bandra in the west and Mankhurd in the east.

"The Government of Maharashtra and the concessionaire signed the termination agreement at no cost and no claims to either party," Reliance Infra said, adding that the bank guarantee of Rs.160 crore was to be returned to it.

Releasing its results for the second quarter of this financial year, Reliance Infra had Wednesday said its actual net profit of Rs.431 crore would have been higher by some 13 percentage points, but for the loss of Rs.57 crore on the Mumbai metro project.

Mumbai Metro One, also called the Line I project connecting Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar, is already being operated by a joint venture between Reliance Infra Veolia Transport of France and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

Awarded in 2007 after an international competitive bidding process, this was country's first mass rapid transport project envisaged on a public-private partnership platform. Reliance Infra with 66 percent is the majority shareholder, as per its Web site.