Setback for techies as BMRCL cancels ORR project tender
Christin Mathew Philip | TNN | Updated: Dec 17, 2018, 07:14 IST
BENGALURU: The wait for Namma Metro’s KR Puram-Silk Board line along the tech corridor on Outer Ring Road is set take longer with the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) cancelling the tender for the project.
The move came after cash-strapped IL&FS emerged as the lowest bidder for all three packages — Silk Board-Bellandur, Bellandur-Doddanekundi and Doddanekundi-KR Puram.
BMRCL was on the verge of awarding package 1 (Silk Board to Bellandur ) to IL&FS. Separately, IL&FS is responsible for constructing the 4km stretch from Mysuru Road station to Pattanagere (Reach 2A) on the Mysuru Road-Kengeri line, which is in an advanced stage.
Sources said BMRCL is unable to award ORR contracts to other firms as they’d quoted a higher price. BMRCL had called tenders in February 2018 and it was supposed to have been finalised by May. A senior official claimed cancellation of the tenders won’t have a major impact for now. “Ongoing Metro work (RV Road-Bommasandra and Gottigere-Dairy Circle lines) has already affected traffic in places like Silk Board and Jayadeva Hospital junction. If we take up another 17km on ORR, the situation will only worsen. The contractor may not be able to commence work as traffic police are unlikely to give permission to take up construction work in multiple places. This process will anyway take more than six months, so by then we will finalise the new tender.”
IL&FS is burdened with a consolidated debt of Rs 91,000 crore. It is also under the scanner of multiple regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), for alleged defaults related to loan repayments and financial disclosures.
The move came after cash-strapped IL&FS emerged as the lowest bidder for all three packages — Silk Board-Bellandur, Bellandur-Doddanekundi and Doddanekundi-KR Puram.
BMRCL was on the verge of awarding package 1 (Silk Board to Bellandur ) to IL&FS. Separately, IL&FS is responsible for constructing the 4km stretch from Mysuru Road station to Pattanagere (Reach 2A) on the Mysuru Road-Kengeri line, which is in an advanced stage.
Sources said BMRCL is unable to award ORR contracts to other firms as they’d quoted a higher price. BMRCL had called tenders in February 2018 and it was supposed to have been finalised by May. A senior official claimed cancellation of the tenders won’t have a major impact for now. “Ongoing Metro work (RV Road-Bommasandra and Gottigere-Dairy Circle lines) has already affected traffic in places like Silk Board and Jayadeva Hospital junction. If we take up another 17km on ORR, the situation will only worsen. The contractor may not be able to commence work as traffic police are unlikely to give permission to take up construction work in multiple places. This process will anyway take more than six months, so by then we will finalise the new tender.”
IL&FS is burdened with a consolidated debt of Rs 91,000 crore. It is also under the scanner of multiple regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), for alleged defaults related to loan repayments and financial disclosures.
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