Rithwik – Soma JV Wins Mumbai Metro Dongri Depot’s Contract CA-207

August 8, 2024 Update: MMRDA today issued LOA to Rithwik – Soma JV with a contract value of Rs. 701,94,36,822 – see details.

July 12, 2024 Original Post: Rithwik Projects Pvt. Ltd. (RPPL) – Soma Enterprise JV on Tuesday was declared as the lowest bidder for the civil construction work of Mumbai Metro Red Line‘s Dongri Depot by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

Dongri Depot & Workshop, under Package CA-207, is planned to come up on 41.36 hectares of land in north-west Mumbai (view on Google Maps). This facility will be built to stable and maintain BEML trains for the entire Red Line (Line-9, Line-7 & Line-7A) connecting Dongri – Mira Bhayandar – Dahisar East – Gundavali – CSIA Terminal 2.

Besides an Operations Control Centre (OCC), Dongri Depot will consist of a 690m long test track with platforms, stabling shed (SBL) with 20 lines (with room for 18 future lines), workshop shed (WSL) area with 3 lines, an inspection shed (IBL) area with 4 lines, receiving substation (RSS) and two auxiliary substations (ASS).

MMRDA had invited bids for the depot’s construction in February 2024 with a Rs. 639.58 crore estimate and 52 months (4.3 year) construction deadline.

Technical bids were opened on June 25 to reveal 3 bidders and technical bid evaluation was completed in just 2 weeks which is surprising to me by MMRDA’s standards. During evaluation, KPC Projects’ bid was found non-compliant to the tender’s conditions and was disqualified.

Financial Bid Values

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
Rithwik – SOMA JV	733.24
NCC	798.35

Brief Scope: Depot land development works and Construction of Depot Infrastructures Comprising Stabling Yard, Operation Control Centre, Depot Control Centre, Administrative Building, Maintenance and Inspection buildings, Auxiliary substation, Road, underground utility duct, Drainage System and Rainwater Harvesting etc. complete (including Architectural Finishing ,Plumbing and PEB Works) for CAR Depot at Dongri for Metro Line- 9 of Mumbai Metro Rail Project of MMRDA

Rithwik – Soma JV’s bid of Rs. 733.24 crore was 14.64% higher than MMRDA’s estimate of Rs. 639.58 crore which isn’t terribly too high by Mumbai’s standards, so this will head for contract finalization.

When awarded, Dongri Depot will be Rithwik Projects’ second depot contruction-related contract in Mumbai. Back in September 2023, they were awarded Line-5 Kasheli Depot’s 589.56 crore contract under Package CA-151. I haven’t heard or seen work starting on that project.

As shared in the past – Dongri Depot’s contract duration at 52 months is unusually long since the site currently comprises of a hill which will have to be levelled. The package’s scope identifies the ‘land development’ component will include cutting, filling, preparatory works, tree transplantation and soil stabilization.

Access to the Dongri Depot will require a 4.9 km long extension of Line-9 on Uttan Road from Subhash Chandra Bose Ground Station. Here’s an alignment of the extension prepared by Line-9’s Detailed Design Consultant (DDC) Archom – Veritas – LKT Engineering JV in June 2023:

This extension will feature 2 new elevated stations at Murdha and Rai Goan. A tender notice for their construction is currently pending.

It goes without saying but once Dongri Depot is built, all Red Line BEML train-sets currently stabled & maintained at Line-2’s operational Charkop Depot and the under construction Mandale Depot will move to Dongri Depot.

In other news, Prime Minister Narendra Modi this Saturday will be in Mumbai for the groundbreaking of two tunnel projects under Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). I had written about their civil contracts in 2023 and have now created basic information pages (these can be accessed from the menu bar’s Misc > Tunnels section and also from Expressway > Mumbai Projects:

• 12.20 km Goregaon – Mulund Link Road (GMLR) with 6.3 km twin tunnels by NCC – J Kumar Infraprojects JV
• 11.84 km Thane – Borivali Tunnel project with 10.8 km twin tunnels by Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd. (MEIL)

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– TMRG