6 Bidders for Chennai’s Koyambedu – Avadi Metro Line’s DPR Consultant Contract

Six consulting firms last week submitted bids to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a new metro corridor connecting Koyambedu and Avadi in north-west Chennai.

This roughly 16.07 km elevated corridor will pass through Thirumangalam, Mugappair and Ambattur. It is planned to be built as a spur of Chennai Metro’s Line-5 (Madhavaram – Sholinganallur) which is under construction as part of the 116.1 km Chennai Metro Phase 2 project. 

The line’s detailed feasibility report, finalized by L&T Infrastructure Engineering in mid-2023, estimates its construction with 15 tentative elevated stations to cost Rs. 6376.18 crore.

CMRL in February 2024 invited bids for the line’s DPR consultant contract with a 180 day deadline and an unknown estimate.

Bidders

• Aarvee Associates Architects Engineers and Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
• AECOM India Pvt. Ltd.
• Balaji Railroad Systems Pvt. Ltd. (BASRYL)
• RITES Ltd.
• SYSTRA MVA Consulting (India) Pvt. Ltd.
• Urban Mass Transit Company Ltd. (UMTC)

Here’s my map showing showing how its alignment might end up looking:

The bids have now been sent for technical bid 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 provide a baseline of the line’s length, route composition (underground, elevated & at-grade sections), number of stations, their locations, depot, coach requirement, ridership projection, operational game plan, total cost etc.

Per CMRL’s press release in September 2023, the appointed DPR consultant will also explore extending the line further from Avadi to Pattabiram looking at recent developments such as the new TIDEL Information Technology Park, land availability, and future growth potential.

If things go according to the tender notice’s prescribed schedule, then we should see a consultant getting appointed in late Q2 (June) and perhaps a glimpse of the DPR’s first draft, if CMRL chooses to share, in Q1 2025 (January – March).

CMRL last week also opened bids for preparing a DPR to extend Chennai Metro’s Line-4 from Poonamallee Bypass to the upcoming greenfield airport at Parandur – see bidder list & project details here.

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– TMRG