Larsen & Tubro (L&T) and China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering Bureau Group are among the 31 companies who have qualified for the final stage of bidding (Request For Proposal) for the Rs 17,750 crore Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project.
The bridge is 22 km long, of which 16.5 km will be over the sea. This will make the bridge, being built over Thane creek, the country’s longest sea bridge, Financial Express reported.
A Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) official said that the project has already been handed over to it by the Mumbai Port Trust on the south side of the project. However, at Navi Mumbai’s Chirle Village, where around 138 hectares are required, encroachments have been done.
“These are in the final stages of getting cleared and we believe we should be getting the land soon,” the official said.
The project was first conceived in 2004 and has seen its cost escalate from Rs 4,500 crore to Rs 17,500 crore. The toll will remain between Rs 175 and Rs 220 as was originally envisaged in 2012. Commercial vehicles could pay up to Rs 800, one way.
Almost 80 percent of the cost of the project is being borne by Japan International Cooperation Agency and the rest is floated by the MMRDA.
The bidding document refers to the final stage of the project’s proposal and is floated subsequent to the request for qualification (RFQ) and those selected post the RFQ are awarded the contract.
The division of the project has been done into three packages and 17 companies will be evaluated for the first package.
The last date for submitting bids is 5 April, after which the MMRDA will take 15-20 days to select the winning bids and award the final contract.
Source: Financial Express
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