4 Bidders for Madurai MRTS’ DPR Contract

4 consulting firms have submitted bids to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Madurai Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) project in Tamil Nadu.

The project’s Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR) was prepared by Balaji Railroad Systems (BARSYL) and submitted to Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) in November 2022. It suggested building a 31 km transit line between Thirumangalam – Othakadai with 20 stations and a train maintenance depot on a 45 acre site at Thirumangalam.

After reviewing the feasibility report, Tamil Nadu’s state government approved the creation of a DPR in January 2023. Shortly after CMRL invited bids for this DPR contract in February with a Rs. 3 lakh estimate and 75 day completion deadline.

Bidders:

• Aarvee Associates Architects Engineers & Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
• Balaji Railroad Systems Pvt. Ltd.
• RITES Ltd.
• SYSTRA MVA Consulting (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Contract Title: CMRL/DPR/MDU/2023

Brief Scope: Selection of Consultant for Preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Mass Rapid Transit System in Madurai.

All bids have now been sent for technical evaluation which can take a couple months to complete. When that is done, the financial bids of the technically qualified bidders will be opened to reveal who’s the lowest bidder and most likely consultant.

The DPR will clearly lay-out whether a heavy-rail metro system should be built or a “metro-lite” light-rail transit (LRT) system, location of stations and depot among other system specifications.

If things go according to the prescribed schedule, then we should see a consultant appointed in Q2 2023 and the first draft, if CMRL chooses to share, in Q3 2023. Post finalization, the DPR then go through the regular motions of approvals with funding being secured parallelly. At this time I don’t see construction starting until at least 2025.

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– TMRG