IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company lowest bidder for 7-km line

IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company Ltd has emerged the lowest bidder for constructing the 7-km Silk Board-Bellandur section of the metro corridor on the Outer Ring Road. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) is yet to open bids for the remaining stretches of the 18-km ORR line.
The Hyderabad-headquartered construction firm will take up the work at a cost of ₹433.26 crore, which is 1.39% higher than BMRCL estimates. The work comprises constructing elevated structures and four stations at Central Silk Board, HSR Layout, Agara lake and Iblur.

In all, six firms had submitted bids for the ORR line, which was split into three parts for speedier construction (which ET reported on May 30). During the technical rounds, the BMRCL disqualified Ahmedabad-headquartered Sadbhav Engineering “as it did not meet the tender conditions”.

The BMRCL, official sources said, was on the verge of disqualifying IL&FS too on the grounds that the company had a weak financial record and was blacklisted by other transport corporations in India. It is not known how IL&FS returned to participate in the financial bids.

Other companies that participated in the bid to construct the 7-km line had quoted estimates which were ₹40-₹90 crore higher than BMRCL’s own estimates. The prices quoted were: Nagarjuna Construction Company (₹486.51 crore), JMC Projects (₹484.96 crore), Simplex Infrastructure (₹498.14 crore) and ITD Cementation India (₹525.72 crore). IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company is constructing the 4-km Mysuru Road-Pattanagere stretch of Phase II. The section is expected to be ready by June 2019.

The original deadline to complete the work that involved building the viaduct and four stations was mid-2018.