MUMBAI (Metro Rail News): After the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) opened technical bids on 13th January, three construction companies have tendered offers for the civil construction project of Mumbai Metro Green Line’s Mogharpada Depot (Package CA-160). This new train depot will function for the 35.2 km Line-4 & Line-4A being constructed to link Wadala – Kasaravadavali – Gaimukh with 34 stations.
This is a new invitation for tenders for the depot. Its initial call for tender was issued in August 2020 with a 36-month timeline and an estimated construction cost of Rs. 596.60 crores. However, that tender was cancelled in May 2021 after MMRDA had continuously pushed back its submission deadline via 14 amendments. The latest tender documents show that the layout of the depot has been drastically changed, reducing its area from 41 to 35 hectares. The contract period remains the same at 36 months, but the estimated cost has increased to Rs. 711.34 crores.
Bidders are :
- NCC Ltd.
- Rithwik Projects Pvt. Ltd.
- Vishwa Samudra Engineering Pvt. Ltd.
The brief Scope of the project is the Construction of depot infrastructures comprising a stabling yard, operational control centre and administrative building, maintenance and workshop buildings. Auxiliary substation, staff quarters, architectural finishing, plumbing, earthworks for land development, compound wall, road approach, a bridge connecting to the depot, underground utility ducts, drainage system, design and build of ETP and STP, etc., including architectural finishing works and design and build of pre-engineered building structures of car depot at Mogharpada for Metro Line-4 and 4A of Mumbai Metro Rail Project of MMRDA.
Originally conceived as the most extensive metro depot in the city, Mogharpada Depot was designed with double-decker sheds, slightly more significant than the Mandale Depot of the Yellow Line. Its current plan will incorporate 16 stabling lines (SBLs) for 32 trains, whereas 16 more SBLs are expected to be added in the future. In addition, the depot will have five inspection bay lines (IBL), with another five sets to be added in due course.
The bids for technical evaluation have been submitted, which will take a few months to finish. After that, the financial bids of the technically qualified bidders will be exposed to reveal the least expensive bidder and potential contractor.
The depot is originally designed to house 39 x 6 trains (in addition to additional trains for Line-10 & Line-11 in the future). In March 2021, an Rs. 1853.28 crore contract was awarded to Bombardier (which was acquired by Alstom Transport) for those trains; however, they withdrew in February 2022 due to delays in the progress of the line’s civil work. As a result, a new tender notice for these trains is pending.
