RITES-led JV wins General Consultancy contract of Haryana Orbital Rail Project

Chandigarh, India (Urban Transport News): The Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (HRIDC) on 2nd February 2021 opened the financial bids of the General Consultancy (GC) contract for the 121.74 km proposed Haryana Orbital Rail project.

According to the financial results announced by HRIDC, a joint venture of RITES Limited - SMEC emerged as the lowest bidder among the other five contractors. Here are the financial position of each bidder:-

• RITES - SMEC JV: Rs 60.98 crores (L1)
• AECOM Asia Ltd: Rs 79.14 crores (L2)
• AYESA India: Rs 89.63 crores (L3)
• Systra MVA: Rs 105.77 crores (L4)
• Tecnica y Proyectos SA: Rs 130.67 crores (L5)

However, the 6th bidder ILF Consulting Engineers Austria did not qualify the tender terms in the technical round. Hence, their financial bids were not opened by the tender committee.

Tender for this contract package (HORC/GC/2020/01) was invited in July 2020 through Expression of Interests (EoI) and a total of 14 firms had sent their application in response to the notice. HRIDC had shortlisted only six bidders and called them for submission of bids. Technical bids of this contract package were opened on 16th December 2020.

The scope of work includes General Consultancy Services for Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor (HORC) from Palwal to Sonipat via Sohna, Manesar, and Kharkhoda in the State of Haryana. The objective of the consulting services is to provide General Consultancy Services for the successful planning, basic & detailed designs, preparation of specifications, preparation of proposal documents and tender assistance, checking designs, project management and supervision including construction supervision, safety, quality and environmental management, interface management, testing and commissioning of the Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor (HORC) Project. The planning shall include the O&M phase as well.

The bidders have been selected according to Quality-Cost Based Selection (QCBS) method through a combination of points scored in the technical bid and financial bid evaluation. Now the bids have been sent for final evaluation and everything found Okay, HRIDC will issue the letter of acceptance (LoA) to RITES Limited for commencing the work.

The Haryana Orbital Rail Project was approved by the Central Government in September last year. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 5,617 crores. The 144 km long corridor will connect Palwal to Sonipat through 17 stations. This project is likely to financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). AIIB is planning to provide financial assistance of US$ 400 million for the development of this project through a soft loan.

For more details, please explore the "Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor" page of Urban Transport News.