Indian Railway awards consultancy contracts for Mumbai – Ahmedabad HSL
Indian Railways (IR) awarded contracts to a pair of consortia led by Nippon Koei and Tata Consulting Engineers on March 22, which cover the provision of project management consultancy services for 13 civil works packages on the project.
The contracts will run for eight years, indicating that IR expects construction of the 508km Mumbai – Ahmedabad high-speed line to overshoot its 2023 completion deadline by approximately five years.
When asked for comments on expected project completion delays, National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) spokesperson, Mr Sushma Gaur, said the 96-month tenure for project consultants would “include a number of post construction activities” and that their work “would go well beyond contract closure.”
However, former railway board member, Mr Subodh Jain, disputed this, saying that “activities of project consultants can be extended for a maximum period of six months and not years.”
Gaur responded that “it was too early to comment on project costs, as this could only be calculated after all tender packages were finalised and awarded.”
