Bengaluru Suburban rail: L&T lowest bidder for civil work tender of Kanaka Line

L&T Limited on Thursday emerged as the lowest bidder for the civil work tender for the longest line of the 148-km Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP), officials said. 

Four firms — L&T Ltd, Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, INTARVO Technologies, and Dinesh Chandra R Agrawal Infracon Pvt Ltd — participated in the tender called under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model for the design and construction of 8.96 km of elevated tracks (viaducts) and 37.92 km of at-grade tracks for the 46.88-km Kanaka Line. 

The bidders had to give separate lumpsum quotes for the elevated and at-grade sections. 

Also called Corridor 4, the Kanaka Line will connect Rajanukunte in the far north to Heelalige in the far south via Baiyappanahalli and Yelahanka.  A senior official directly associated with the tender process confirmed that L&T had emerged as the lowest bidder followed by Afcons. 

According to the official, they will start deliberations on the two companies’ bids on Friday. “The Letter of Acceptance (LoA) will be issued after obtaining approvals from the competent authorities,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

“We will make all efforts to issue the LoA by the end of September,” the official added. The deadline will be 30 months from the day the contract is awarded. 

The development was confirmed by another senior official from Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited, the special-purpose vehicle for the BSRP. 

L&T is believed to have quoted Rs 1,021 crore and Afcons Rs 1,424 crore. The financial bids of INTARVO Technologies and Dinesh Chandra R Agrawal Infracon Pvt Ltd are said to have been rejected because neither company fulfilled the technical criteria. 

The first official further said that tenders for the construction of 19 stations for the Kanaka Line would be called in October. 

Meanwhile, K-RIDE has expedited the shifting of electrical, signalling and telecommunication and other utility lines for the Kanaka Line. 

K-RIDE estimates to receive 193 acres of railway line for Corridor 4 and has sent the requisition to the South Western Railway. Private land acquisition is also under way, according to officials. 

Physical and land adjustment surveys have been completed for the entire alignment. 

L&T last year won the civil work contract for the 25.02-km Corridor 2 (Baiyappanahalli-Chikkabanavara, Sampige Line) and has started
groundwork.