SP Singla Wins New Digha – Sonepur Bridge’s Contract in Bihar

SP Singla Constructions Pvt. Ltd. (SPCPL) on Thursday was declared as the lowest bidder for the new Sonepur – Digha Bridge’s construction work on NH-139W in Bihar on the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode.

This 6 lane bridge over the Ganga River by India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will be built on the western-side of the existing Sonepur – Digha Rail & Road Bridge known as J.P. Setu. That bridge was inaugurated in March 2016 to link Patna and Saran districts (view on Google Maps).

The total length of the project is 6.925 km which includes a 4.556 km long extra-dosed bridge and 2.369 kms of approach roads. MoRTH had invited bids for its civil construction in January 2023 with a Rs. 2635.89 crore construction estimate and 42 month deadline. Technical bids were opened barely 10 days ago to reveal 10 bidders.

Four of the bidders (Ansal Highway, Gammon, R & C Infraengineers & Spica Projects) were disqualified right away as they hadn’t submitted a physical bid along with their online bid. DRA Infracon – YFC Projects JV was disqualified during technical evaluation as they failed to demonstrate adequate experience mandated by the tender’s requirements.

Financial Bid Values

Firm	Bid (Rs. Crore)
SP Singla Constructions Pvt. Ltd. (SPCPL)	2221.47
Ashoka Buildcon Ltd. (ABL)	2322.00
Larsen and Toubro Ltd. (L&T)	2356.30
Kalpataru Projects International Ltd. (KPIL)	2405.00
Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL)	2525.55

MoRTH’s Brief Scope: Construction of 6 lane H.L./Extra-dosed Cable Bridge on River Ganga parallel to Western side (180 meter upstream) of Digha- Sonepur Rail-cum-Road Bridge at Patna on Ganga River on NH-139W in the state of Bihar on EPC mode

I found that physical bid submission requirement strange because we’re living in 2024 and not 2004. Anyways, SP Singla’s bid of Rs. 2221.47 crore was well below MoRTH’s estimate of Rs. 2635.89 crore – so a contract should be awarded in the coming weeks without a long financial bid evaluation period.

When constructed, SP Singla will be responsible for maintaining the bridge for a period of three and a half years.

The project’s construction was approved by the Central Government’s cabinet on December 27, 2023 with a total estimated cost of Rs. 3064.45 crore. The project’s benefits are listed over here on the government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB) website.

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– TMRG