Two companies in the race to run Mumbai monorail

After four rounds of bidding, two companies have finally shown interest in operating the country’s first monorail - the 19.6 km corridor between Chembur and Jacob Circle via Wadala.  

Officials from the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) on Tuesday confirmed that Reliance Infrastructure and ILFS are in the race for bagging the operation and maintenance contract for a period of 10 years. The final date for submitting bids was on March 12.  

Earlier, ILFS had submitted bids for the project but since it was a single bidder, MMRDA had to float tenders again.  

An official, on the condition of anonymity said, “The financial bids will evaluated in the coming days post which we will take a decision based on the variation from estimated costs.” If the bids are higher than MMRDA’s estimated cost of Rs 1000 crores, then the planning authority might have to float tenders again, the official said.  

MMRDA has been trying to get an operator since early 2017 but failed each time owing to poor response from contractors or technical hassles.  

Initiated in 2014, India's first monorail has also been marred by constant delays, disruptions, accidents and maintenance issues. The 8.8km first phase between Chembur and Wadala has not been operations since November when two rakes of a monorail were charred in a fire at the Mysore colony station. MMRDA is also awaiting a nod from the commissioner of railway safety to begin operations for the second phase between Wadala and Jacob Circle.  

MMRDA officials also said that once the work orders are given to the new operator, the company will take a minimum of 2-3 months to stabilize.