Eight companies to bid for Hyderabad Metro

HYDERABAD - Hyderabad Metro Rail has received pre-qualification bids from eight companies for Rs.12,132 crore project, which got derailed last year after Maytas Infra, a sister-concern of scam-hit Satyam Computer Services, failed to achieve financial closure.

With the last date for submission of fresh Request for Qualification (RFQ) from prospective developers ending Saturday, the authorities said they received bids from eight firms.

The companies/consortia which prequalified are Larsen & Toubro, Lanco-OHL Spain consortium, the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), Essar-Leighton (Australia)-Gayatri constructions-VNR consortium, GVK-Samsung (South Korea) consortium, GMR, Transstroy-OJSC(Russia)-CR 18 (China)-BEML Consortium and Soma-Strabag (Austria) consortium.

These companies/consortia will now participate in technical and financial bidding for the elevated Metro rail project to be taken up in public private partnership on design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis.

Minister for Municipal Administration Anam Ramnarayana Reddy told reporters that the companies would be shortlisted in technical bidding by Jan 28.

He said financial bids would be accepted till April 9. “The entire tender process will be completed in April,” the minister said.

The ground work on the project for three routes of 71.16 km is expected to start by October and the entire project is expected to be completed in four years.

An independent evaluation agency and the project’s technical, financial and legal consultants will assist the government in the evaluation of the pre-qualification documents.

The minister said the central and state governments could fund 40 percent of the project cost (a maximum of Rs.4,853 crore) as Viability Gap Funding (VGF). The centre has already sanctioned Rs.2,363 crore as its share under the VGF.

The state government in July last year invited fresh global bids the project after scrapping the agreement signed with Maytas Infra-led consortium.

The government scrapped the deal with a consortium led by Maytas, a firm owned by the family of B. Ramalinga Raju, the disgrace founder and former chairman of Satyam Computer Services, after it failed to achieve the financial closure by the extended deadline.

The government also forfeited Rs.710 million (Rs.71 crore) deposited by Maytas led consortium as performance guarantee and as advance towards Rs.303.11 billion (Rs.30311 crore) it promised to pay to the government over the concession period of 35 years.

Maytas and its partners Navbharat Ventures, Ital Thai and IL&FS bagged the contract in 2008 in a global bid.