Larsen & Toubro bags tunneling contract worth Rs 2,385 crore for Chennai Metro Phase 2

Chennai, India (Urban Transport News): Taking a major step towards enhancing public transport facility for the people, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) on May 10, 2021, issued a contract worth Rs 2,385 crores to Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) for the construction of a 12 km twine tunnel between Kellys Station and Taramani Road Junction under 45.81 km long Corridor 3 (Madhavaram – SIPCOT) of Phase 2 of Chennai Metro Rail Project.

The scope of work includes the construction of approximately 12 km twin bored tunnels (total = 24 km) from Kellys Station to Taramani Road Junction and the construction of diaphragm walls, entry/exit structures of Chetpet station, Royapettah Government Hospital Station, Thiruvanmiyu Station, and part diaphragm wall of Greenways Road Station, including launching and retrieval shafts at the above stations.

The tender for the aforesaid work under contract package CP31/TU-02 was issued in January 2020. Technical bids were opened on October 31, 2020, and financial bids were opened on January 22, 2021. A total of four bidders viz. Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T), Tata Projects Limited, Gulermak Agir Sanayi Insaat ve Taahhut A.S. (Gulermak) and Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (Singapore) Pte Ltd – Woh Hup Pte Ltd Joint Venture (STEC – WH JV) have submitted their bids. STEC – WH JV was disqualified in the technical round.

According to the financial bid results, L&T emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) by quoting Rs 2,385 crores against CMRL's estimate of Rs 2,550 crores. L&T also emerged as the lowest bidder in Contract package CP30/TU-02 but the tender is awarded to the second-lowest bidder Tata Projects Limited (TPL). The new terms & conditions, CMRL does not allow the same contractor to work on the same line.

Now Larsen & Toubro Ltd  (L&T) has been given 48 months deadline to complete the tunneling work including the construction of four underground stations at Chetpet station, Royapettah Government Hospital Station, Thiruvanmiyu Station, and part diaphragm wall of Greenways Road Station. 

Corridor 3 of Chennai Metro's Phase 2 will connect Madhavaram to SIPCOT with 50 stations. This corridor is comprised of both elevated and underground sections.

For more details, please explore the Chennai Metro page of Urban Transport News.