L&T & Afcons Bid for Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train’s C2 Package

Larsen & Toubro and Afcons Infrastructure are the only firms that have submitted bids to construct 20.377 km Package C-2 of the 508.17 km Mumbai – Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR Bullet Train) after National National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. (NHSRCL) opened technical bids today.

Package C2 of the main-line between chainage Km 0.773 (Bandra Kurla Complex Station) and Km 21.150 (Shilphata) will be entirely underground and consist of roughly 3 km “undersea” twin tunnels below Thane Creek. The appointed contractor will be required to use at least 3 Mega TBMs with a diameter of roughly 14.5 meters.

NHSRCL had originally invited bids for this package in 2019, which received zero bids, and then again in November 2021 which was canceled in February 2022.

For the latest round, bids were invited in September 2022 with a 1888 day (5.17 years) deadline and an unknown estimate.

IFB Number: Package No. MAHSR-C-2

Brief Scope: Construction of Tunnelling Works including Testing and Commissioning for Double Line High Speed Railway using (TBM) and (NATM) between Mumbai Underground Station at Bandra-Kurla Complex (MAHSR Km. 0.773) and Shilphata (MAHSR Km. 21.150)

Both bids have now been sent for technical evaluation which should 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 contractor for this package.

If things go according to the scheduled bidding timeline, then I see financial bids getting opened in Q2 2023 with preliminary construction work starting in Q3 2023 and actual tunneling work in 2025.

With this development, 135.45 km Package C3 (Shilphata – Zaroli) in Maharashtra is the only civil package left in the bidding stage. The current bid submission deadline is March 14 with technical bids scheduled to be opened on the following day, so stay tuned!

A list of all bullet train civil and system packages and their status can be viewed here.

For more updates, check out the High Speed Rail section or my Home Page! Sign up for free instant email notifications on new posts over here. Like this post? Get early-access to updates and support the site over here.

– TMRG