Afcons & GRIL Win Pune Ring Road Packages E5, E6 & E7’s Contracts

Afcons Infrastructure and G R Infraprojects Ltd. (GRIL) on Monday were declared as the lowest bidders to construct 136.80 km Pune Ring Road project’s packages E5, E6 & E7 in eastern Pune by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

This 4-6 lane access-controlled highway project by MSRDC will be developed under 12 packages (E1, E2, E3A & E3B, E4, E5, E6, E7, W1, W2, W3, W4 & W5). It has been designed with a 120 kmph speed limit and will connect the taluks of Khed, Haveli, Purandhar, Bhor, Mulshi and Maval.

MSRDC had invited RfQ applications for Pune Ring Road’s civil construction in April 2023 and opened bids in June 2023 to reveal 28 firms had submitted applications. 18 of those firms qualified to the next RfP round in December 2023.

MSRDC in July 2024 then invited price bids for packages E5, E6 & E7 with a 36 month (3 year) construction deadline. RfP applications were opened in September to reveal 6 firms had submitted a total of 8 bids, and their price bids were opened on Monday.

Package E5 (9.565 km)

• Lowest Bidder: Afcons Infrastructure (Rs. 2718.50 crore)
• Other Bidder: Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd. (NECL)
• MSRDC’s Estimate: Rs. 1999.05 crore
• Scope: Km 72+335 Valati, Taluka Haveli to Km 81+900 Sonori, Taluka Purandar, District Pune

Package E6 (16 km)

• Lowest Bidder: G R Infraprojects Ltd. (GRIL) (Rs. 1947 crore)
• Other Bidders: Montecarlo Ltd. (MCL), Patel Infrastructure Ltd. & PNC Infratech Ltd.
• MSRDC’s Estimate: Rs. 1552.07 crore
• Scope: Km 81+900 Sonori to Km 97+900 Garade, Taluka Purandar, District Pune

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
GRIL	1947
MCL	1972
Patel Infra	2048
PNC Infra	2066

Package E7 (6.24 km)

• Lowest Bidder: Afcons Infrastructure (Rs. 2068.70 crore)
• Other Bidder: Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd. (NECL)
• MSRDC’s Estimate: Rs. 1543.43 crore
• Scope: Km 97+900 Garade, Taluka Purandar to Km 104+140 Shiware, Taluka Bhor, District Pune

I haven’t looked at detailed designs but looking at the chainage and bidder list for packages E5 & E7, I suspect these sections consist of major tunneling or viaduct work.

The lowest bid for each package’s construction was significantly higher than MSRDC’s estimate, so we’ve reached a deadlock which can take months to resolve. For instance – in Package E5, Afcons’ bid was 35.96% higher than MSRDC’s estimate. Similarly in Package E6, GRIL’s bid was 25.44% higher which is slightly better placed for negotiations and contract finalization.

With this development, financial bids for all packages have been opened with contract finalization pending for a majority of packages. Back in May 2024 – MEIL, NECL, GRIL, PNC & RSIIL were declared as the lowest bidders for the construction of packages E1 to E4 & W1 to W5 – see details here. In December 2024, RSIIL formally began construction work on 24.50 km Package E4 in Wadebolhai village near Kesnand.

A list of all Pune Ring Road packages and their contractors/status can be viewed here.

On a side note, the upcoming 700 km Pune – Bangalore Expressway project by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will have its northern terminal at Pune Ring Road.

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– TMRG