KPIL’s Kanpur Metro TBM Saraswati Starts Tunneling from Rawatpur

Bangalore Metro’s TBM Tunga is back! Kalpataru Projects International Ltd. (KPIL) – Gulermak JV this week commissioned their second tunnel boring machine (TBM) Saraswati at Rawatpur Metro Station of Kanpur Metro’s 8.38 km Line-2 which will connect Agriculture University – Barra-8.

TBM Saraswati (S-839C) is a Ø6.5m refurbished Herrenknecht mixed-shield Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) machine and the sixth TBM to get deployed for constructing underground twin tunnels of the 32.385 km Kanpur Metro Phase 1 project.

It’s the second machine after TBM Gomati (S-1408A) to get deployed for constructing Line-2’s 4.08 km underground Package KNPCC-11 between Agriculture Depot and Double Pullia Ramp which consists of 3 underground stations at Rawatpur, Kakadeo and Double Pullia.

KPIL – Gulermak was originally going to deploy a new machine S-1409A but that plan got cancelled due to the ongoing export restrictions put in place by the Government of China which has also affected the Mumbai – Ahmedabad Bullet Train project’s underground Package C-2 where at least 2 mega TBMs are planned to be deployed in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Due to that, KPIL – Gulermak JV ended up buying ITD Cementation’s TBM Tunga (S-838B) which previously built 4 of Bangalore Metro Pink Line’s tunnels between June 2021 – September 2024.

For its first and only assignment, TBM Saraswati will excavate a 622m tunnel and build 444 tunnel rings for the down-line from Rawatpur Station towards the ramp at Agriculture University. The rest of the down-line’s tunnels will be built by TBM S-840C (Parvati) and TBM S-1408 (Gomati).

Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) had awarded underground Package KNPCC-11’s Rs. 762.50 crore contract to KPIL – Gulermak JV in December 2023 with a 30 month deadline. The consortium officially started construction work at Rawatpur Station in April 2024.

KNPCC-11 is the third underground package of the 32.38 km Kanpur Metro Phase 1 project after Line-1’s KNPCC-05 (Chunniganj – Nayaganj) and KNPCC-06 (Nayaganj – Transport Nagar).

As shared at the top of my post, TBM Saraswati is Kanpur Metro Phase 1 project’s sixth TBM to get going. Contractors on Line-1’s two packages each deployed two machines:

• Package KNPCC-05 (Chunniganj – Nayaganj): TBM Tatya (S92) and TBM Nana (S93) – Tunneling completed by Gulermak – Sam India JV
• Package KNPCC-06 (Nayaganj – Transport Nagar): TBM Vidyarthi (S-639B) and TBM Azad (S-640B) – Tunneling underway by Afcons Infrastructure

TBM Gomati (S-1408A) on Line-2’s up-line recorded its first breakthrough at Agriculture University’s Ramp area in January 2025. Its parts are currently being taken back to Rawatpur Station where it’ll be reassembled and relaunched from the south-shaft towards Kakadeo Station for a 772m drive.

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– TMRG