Metro rethinks Phase 2 underground line

Bidders quote high rates, BMRCL may cut corridor length or call fresh tenders.
Metro rethinks Phase 2 underground line

BENGALURU: With exorbitant sums quoted by all bidders for the 13.9-km underground corridor of the Nagawara-Gottigere line of Metro’s Phase-II, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) is mulling cutting down the length of this stretch. It may even go for re-tendering of the corridor. The Reach-6 line is crucial to the Metro network as it provides connectivity to the Kempe Gowda International Airport from Nagawara.  The Nagawara-Gottigere line will be the costliest of all lines in Phase-II and is estimated at `11,014 crore out of the total project cost of `26,405 crore. 

According to reliable sources, the estimated cost of the entire underground contract, which was divided into four packages, was pegged at `5,000 crore. “The four firms which bid for the underground stretches have totally bid for nearly `8,000 crore. This works out to a two-thirds additional cost and it is not possible to award contracts for such high amounts,” a source said. L&T (Chennai), Afcons Infrastructure Ltd (Mumbai), Hindustan Construction Company (Mumbai) and Gluen Mark (Turkey) are the four concerns, sources added. 

While on the one hand, BMRCL was planning to call them for another round of negotiations, it is seriously thinking of hugely reducing the underground stretch. “The BBMP plans to go in for road widening at the two ends of the corridor, both at Bannerghatta Road as well as Tannery Road. So, at the two end points, we could build elevated lines while going in for underground corridor in the middle.”

The four packages for the UG network could be reduced to just one or two packages, the source said. “There will just be one underground tunnel running to nearly 8 km rather than the nearly 14 km plan BMRCL had originally proposed,” the official added. With less packages up for bidding, the bidders will also be forced to specify competitive prices. “Building an underground line costs the BMRCL nearly `500 crore per km while it works out to just `190-240 crore per km for an elevated line,” a source said. 

BMRCL Managing Director Mahendra Jain confirmed the development to Express. “It is true that we have received abnormally high quotes for the Gottigere-Nagawara underground tunnel tender. We have to consult the funding agency before we take a final call. All options are on board, including negotiating with the bidders, cancelling the bids and retendering, as well as restructuring the tender to get competitive rates and, at the same time, not lose too much time in the process.”

18 stns in Nagawara-Gottigere line
The Nagawara-Gottigere line has 18 stations of which six are elevated. The 13.9-km section goes underground from Diary Circle in the South to Nagawara in the North and comprises 12 stations: Diary Circle, Mico Industries, Langford Town, Vellara, M G Road, Shivaji Nagar, Bamboo Bazaar, Pottery Town, Tannery Road, Venkateshpura, Arabic College and Nagawara. Phase-II is an extension of East-West and North-South lines of the Phase-I along with two new lines, the Nagawara-Gottigere Line and the R V Road-Bommasandra Line.

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