Metro rail: 16 firms vie for making DPR

VGTM-UDA forms panel to look into their eligibility. Speaking to The Hindu, UDA Chairman V. Srinivas Reddy said the scrutiny of applications received till 5 p.m. on September 1, which was the last date, has begun but preferred to keep the names of companies confidential.

A map showing new boundaries (Year 2012) of VGTMUDA.

The Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTM-UDA) has constituted a committee which will look into the eligibility criteria of 16 companies which submitted applications for preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Vijayawada Metro Rail Project according to the Authority.

The tenders will be opened in 10 days.

A communication is sent to the respective companies to depute their officers to be present at the time of choosing a qualified bidder. The applicants include some well-known firms, some of which are operating from outside the state. It would be then discretion of the State government to select the most competent one among them.

By appointing E. Sreedharan, Principal Advisor of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), as advisor for the ambitious project, the State government expedited the process of establishing the much-needed rail connectivity between Vijayawada and other bustling towns in the region.

Speaking to The Hindu , UDA Chairman V. Srinivas Reddy said the scrutiny of applications received till 5 p.m. on September 1, which was the last date, has begun but preferred to keep the names of companies confidential.

He said the first phase of the metro rail will cover 47 km as against 200-plus km planned for the entire VGTM region mainly covering Vijayawada and Guntur. A sum of Rs 25 crore allocated for preparing the DPR.

Appointment hailed

Mr. Reddy welcomed the appointment of Mr. Sreedharan as advisor for three metro rail projects, which includes the one in VGTM region, and asserted that his experience and expertise would be extremely useful for making the project in VGTM a grand success.

VGTM-UDA has jurisdiction over nearly 7,000 sq. km. consisting of Vijayawada and Guntur municipal corporations, Gudivada, Mangalagiri, Nandigama, Nuzvid, Ponnur, Sattenapalli, Tadepalli, Tenali and Vuyyur municipalities and nearly 820 villages across Krishna and Guntur districts.