As the construction of phase II project of Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) picks up pace, the process to procure material has been initiated.
CMRL has initiated the acquisition of hardened rails for laying tracks in two corridors — Madhavaram to Sholinganallur and Madhavaram to SIPCOT.
Separate contracts
According to officials, while the contractor chosen for this work would only provide the rails, another contractor would execute the work of laying tracks along these two corridors.
“We have called for tenders for buying the rails. Once the process is completed and after the contract is awarded, the selected firm will begin manufacturing the rails according to our specifications and deliver them just before the work begins. Subsequently in a few weeks, we will float tenders for finalising a contractor for carrying out the work too,” an official said.
The contractor would have to supply rails to cover 91.8 km for upward and downward track for the stretch between Madhavaram and SIPCOT and another 94 km for both tracks to cover the stretch from Madhavaram to Sholinganallur.
Funding by JICA
Sources said these hardened rails might be of Japanese make as funding for these two corridors came from Japan International Cooperative Agency (JICA).
An MoU was signed to this effect sometime ago.
Apart from this, the State and Union governments too would be providing funds for this project whose cost was estimated to be ₹61,843 crore.
Construction work of the phase II project was first taken up on the Light House-Poonamallee stretch.
