KEC – SAM Wins Bhopal Metro Subhash Nagar Depot’s Contract

KEC International – Sam India JV today emerged as the lowest bidder for the construction work of Bhopal Metro’s Subhash Nagar Depot (Package BH06) after Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (MPMRC) opened financial bids.

This depot of Bhopal Metro’s Phase 1 project will be built on a 26.1 hectare land parcel just west of Subhash Nagar Station. It will serve as a common depot for two of the city’s metro lines – the under construction 14.99 km Purple Line (Karond Circle – AIIMS) and the 12.88 km Red Line (Bhadbhada Square – Ratnagiri Tiraha) which is in planning stage.

MPMRCL invited tenders for the depot’s construction in August 2021 with a 3 year completion deadline and Rs. 322.91 crore estimate.

Technical bids were opened in December 2021 to reveal 13 bidders. During evaluation, bids from the following 8 firms were rejected as they were found non-compliant to the tender conditions.

• Altis Holding Corporation – Varindera Constructions (Altis-VCL) JV
• Amara Raja Infra Pvt Ltd
• Bansal Construction Works Private Limited
• Bridge and Roof Company India Ltd.
• Cube Construction Engineering Ltd.
• Engineering Projects (India) Ltd.
• Shalimar Corp Ltd.
• SMS Ltd.

Financial Bid Values:

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
KEC International – SAM India JV	338.09
IRCON International Ltd.	351.55
URC Construction Pvt. Ltd.	351.55
Suroj Buildcon Pvt. Ltd.	374.82
Montecarlo – Kunal Structure (MCL-KSIPL JV)	483.69

Package: BH-06

Brief Scope: Construction of Rolling Stock Depot cum Workshop at Subhash Nagar for Bhopal Metro Rail Project

Interestingly, IRCON and URCC submitted the same bid (Rs. 351,55,78992.13) down to the paisa! I’ve never seen anything like this.

Anyhow, KEC-SAM JV’s bid of Rs. 338.09 crore was just 4.7% higher than MPMRC’s estimate (322.91 crore), which is negligible, so a contract should be awarded in the coming weeks without negotiation.

This is SAM India’s third win for the day. Earlier today, they emerged as the lowest bidders for Agra and Kanpur’s tunneling contracts: AGCC-02 and KNPCC-06.

Bhopal’s depot contract will be financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) via a €400 million loan. It is planned to be built to IGBC platinum rating standards and will include standard train stabling, washing / cleaning, inspection, maintenance, repairs and overhaul facilities.

The depot will initially house 27 train-sets of 3 coaches (total 81 coaches) as part of a larger 156 coach rolling stock contract, combined with Indore Metro. Bidding is currently underway with technical bids scheduled to open on March 4. Stay tuned!

For more updates, check out the Bhopal section or my Home Page! Sign up for free instant email notifications on new posts over here. Like this post? See how you can get early-access to updates and support the site over here.

– TMRG