L&T, Tatas, Afcons among 9 in fray for Colaba-Seepz Metro

Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls scheduled for October 15, Rs 23,136 crore Colaba-Seepz Metro project, which is the single largest infra investment in the megapolis to date, got off to a flying start with nine out of the 14 bidders clearing the eligibility criteria.
As many as 14 consortia put up their bids for proposals in the pre-bidding process, out of which nine cleared the eligibility criteria for the 32.5-km underground metro, according to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
The nine consortia, which have qualified in the pre-bid process include Pallonji Mistry's Afcons Infrastructure- Kyivmetrobud; the Tatas-led Continental Engineering Corporation-ITD Cementation India-Tata Projects; Dogus-Soma and IL&FS Engineering & Construction-China Railway 25th Bureau Group.

J Kumar Infraprojects-China Railway 3 Engineering Group; L&T-Shanghai Tunnel Engineering; OSJC Moscow Metrostroy-Hindustan Construction Company; Pratibha Industries-Guandong Tuantian Engineering; and Unity Infraprojects-IVRCL-China Railway Tunnel Group are the remaining consortia.
Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), which is implementing the mega project, will now issue request for proposal and the process is expected to be completed by December after which the work is likely to commence from next year.
On August 26, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had laid the foundation stone of the project paving way for the commencement of construction work which is being implemented on EPC basis.
The MMRC had invited re-qualification bids last September. However, due to certain issues raised by bidders on the eligibility criteria, the MMRC re-invited the bids for detailed design and construction of underground stations and tunnels bids on January 31.

In July, MMRC had invited tenders for the civil and other development work at the metro car depot at Aarey Colony in Goregaon worth Rs 129.32 crore.