Mitsui & Ohmi Bid for Chennai Metro Phase 2’s HH Rail Contract

Japan’s Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and Ohmi Industries Ltd. on Wednesday emerged as the only bidders for Chennai Metro line 3 & 5’s head-hardened rail contract after Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) opened technical bids.

These special tracks will be 60E1 – 1080 grade as per Indian Railway Specification T-12-2009, and manufactured through a special heat treatment process to provide additional strength, lower residual stress, elongate track-life and minimize maintenance.

Both these new lines of Chennai Metro’s 118.9 km Phase 2 project will run in a north-south orientation to connect Madhavaram – SIPCOT (45.813 km Line-3) and Madhavaram – Sholinganallur (47 km Line-5) with a mix of elevated & underground stations.

CMRL invited tenders for this track contract, financed by JICA, in August 2021 with a Rs. 88.1 crore estimate and 1632 day (4.47 year) delivery deadline.

Scope: Supply of 60E1 Profile, 1080 Grade (Head Hardened) Rails Conforming to IRS T-12-2009 (with latest amendments for CMRL Phase-II Project for Corridor 3&5.

I don’t believe Ohmi has ever supplied to any Indian metro project. Mitsui has supplied 10,600 metric tonnes of head hardened rails to Ahmedabad Metro’s Phase 1 project, and is currently delivering to Bangalore Metro’s Phase 2 project.

I’m surprised Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. (JSPL) didn’t bid for this contract. Most likely their internal ROI calculations didn’t see any substantial benefit. They’re the only Indian rail manufacturer capable of producing these special tracks from their Raigarh plant. Their most recent win was in 2020 for delivering 2,308 tonnes of HH rails to Kolkata Metro’s Line-2.

Anyhow, both Mutsui & Ohmi’s bids have now been sent for technical bid evaluation which can take a couple months to complete. When that is done, the financial bids of the technically qualified bidders will be opened to reveal who’s the lowest bidder and most likely supplier.

A list of all Chennai Metro Phase 2 civil & system packages and their status can be viewed here.

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– TMRG