The Hindustan Construction Company and KEC International Limited joint venture has once again become the lowest bidder for construction of one of the important stretches in the phase II project of Chennai Metro Rail. This joint venture already got a contract and the team has been building the 8-km elevated stretch from Poonamallee to Porur for a few months now.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), HCC-KEC will be responsible for building 11.6-km stretch from Puzhithivakkam to Shollinganallur, that comprises a part of the line from Madhavaram to Sholinganallur (Line 5) in the phase II project. This 11.6-km stretch will have stations at Puzhuthivakkam, Kilkattalai, Echangadu, Kovilambakkam, Vellakal, Medavakkam Koot Road, Kamaraj Garden Street, Medavakkam Junction, Perumbakkam, Global Hospital and Elcot.
‘No monopoly’
The other two lines in the ₹61,843-crore phase II project include Madhavaram to SIPCOT (Line 3) and Light House to Poonamallee (Line 4). To make sure no single firm gets a one full line for construction, CMRL has divided the construction work into different tender packages last year and awarded contracts since early this year. So far, Larsen and Toubro got contracts for building Porur to Power House stretch ( in the Light House to Poonamallee Line) and tunnelling work for Kellys to Taramani (in the Madhavaram to SIPCOT Line). Tata Projects has bagged the contract for tunnelling work from Madhavaram to Kellys.
“We did not want any single contractor to have a monopoly and hence we have several contracts. This will ensure that, if at some point, a contractor fails to finish the work or the work gets affected because of the financial crunch of the firm, the whole project doesn’t have to suffer,” an official said.
