Tender excess: DMRC ends contract with Soma

KOCHI: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the implementing agency for the Kochi Metro Rail, on Friday said it would terminate the contract with Soma Constructions, which is carrying out construction on the Maharajah’s-Ernakulam South stretch of the Metro.

Soma, which has undertaken work on the Palarivattom-Ernakulam South reach, will now be completing work only up to Maharajah’s College. The decision to have the work partially offloaded by Soma was taken on  Friday, after the company demanded a 40 per cent hike in the existing contract amount.

According to Soma, cost escalated due to the delay in handing over land, mainly in the form of rent for machinery and labour cost.   However, the DMRC said the tender excess was unacceptable, hence the decision to terminate the contract with Soma and to re-tender the remaining work. According to DMRC sources, if Soma wants to take up the remaining work, it could  participate in the re-tender, along with which tender for the Vyttila-Pettah stretch will also be floated.

The authorities are yet to decide whether to assign the remaining work to L&T, which has successfully completed the majority of civil works between Aluva and Palarivattom.

DMRC officials, meanwhile, said the re-tendering process would not delay the Metro project further as construction on the other reaches were progressing fast.