RITES Wins Chennai Metro Koyambedu – Avadi Line’s DPR Consultant Contract

June 20, 2024 Update: RITES has been awarded a Rs. 80,48,204.63 (excluding GST) contract by CMRL for Koyambedu – Avadi metro line’s DPR.

May 27, 2024 Original Post: RITES Ltd. last week was declared as the lowest bidder 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 metro line 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 currently 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.

Technical bids were opened in April 2024 to reveal 6 bidders. During evaluation, AECOM India – URS Scott Wilson India JV’s bid was found non-compliant to the tender’s conditions and was disqualified.

Financial Bid Values

Financial bids were opened on May 21. Results:

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
RITES	0.95
Balaji Railroad Systems	1.04
SYSTRA MVA Consulting	1.15
Aarvee Associates	1.26
Urban Mass Transit Company	1.82

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

I’m not aware of CMRL’s estimate, so can’t provide an assessment on the chances of a contract getting issued. We’ll have to wait and see how this plays out.

If a contract is awarded in June, then we might get to see a glimpse of the DPR’s first draft, if CMRL chooses to share, in Q1 2025 (January – March).

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.

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 results & project details here.

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– TMRG