Three firms bids for construction of Aqua Line extension of Noida metro

NOIDA: Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) has finally got the three bidders it needs to go through with the process to pick a company that will build the first phase of the Aqua Line extension from Noida to Greater Noida. This was the fourth time it floated bids since it was unable to find the minimum number of applicants needed to go through with the process.

The 14.95km Aqua Line corridor from Noida Sector 51 to Knowledge Park V in Greater Noida will have nine stations in total. And the estimated cost is Rs 2,294 crore. The first phase of the corridor is 9.6km-long and will have five stations at sectors 122, 123, Greater Noida Sector 4, Ecotech 12 and Greater Noida Sector 2. The first phase cost is Rs 563.04 crore, and its deadline is 24 months from the date of approval.

Officials said that the tenders for the construction of the first phase of the project were opened on June 30 and the three bidders are — GR Infra Projects, Sam India Builtwell and Ashoka Buildcon. NMRC will announce the final candidate in three weeks after technical assessment of the bids. “We will take at least three weeks to study the bids before selecting the final candidate,” Noida Metro MD Ritu Maheshwari said. The service is expected to help connect residents of Noida Extension and Crossings Republik with the mass transport system.

The NMRC had cancelled the third round of the civil tendering process in February because of a lack of “wide participation” from construction companies. It invited fresh tenders on May 31 this year that were opened on June 30.

NMRC first invited tenders in May 2020 and received bids from three firms. One of them was not a construction company. This led to the cancellation of the tender in July. The corporation re-invited tenders in September 2020. It received two bids from Sam India and GR Infra Projects in mid-November, but cancelled the same in November-end.

The third round was floated in December and cancelled in February this year. Work on the extension of Aqua Line will start in 2021. Work on the Greater Noida corridor (Sector 51 to Knowledge Park 5) will be executed first before two other extensions are built. “We had to refloat tenders because we were not getting adequate response. The technical qualifications of the bidders will be weighed,” Manoj Vajpayee, general manager (technical), NMRC, said.