5 firms bid for BMRCL’s Challaghatta depot

Nischith N | NT

Five construction firms have so far submitted bids for the BMRCL’s Challaghatta depot on the Purple Line. BMRCL had issued a tender for the depot on January 24. The depot is part of BMRCL’s 73.92-km long phase two project, which has missed many deadlines so far.

Confirming the information, R. Raghavan, General Manager (Contracts), BMRCL said, “Five construction firms have submitted their bids for the Challaghatta depot of Namma Metro’s phase 2. These companies have submitted both technical and financial bids together. But we will first go through the technical evaluation and then financial. So it takes another two months for the Corporation to award this tender and by June the work will start.”

According to the reports, this depot will be built on a portion of a 40 acre land parcel abutting Mysuru Road at the southern-end of Reach 2B with the cost of Rs 517.44 crore. It is claimed that a period of completion has been fixed for 24 months from the day of commencement of civil work.

The source claims that corporation expected more number of participants in the bidding, but it ended up with only five firms - IRCON International Ltd., KEC International – SAM India JV, RITES – PMPL JV, RVNL – DRA Infracon JV and URC Constructions Pvt Ltd.

“We have received five companies and the contract will be awarded by June. The work will be completed as soon as possible because people can only talk about the deadlines, but we people who are into that work know the challenges. Getting into heavy construction work like the metro in the busy Bengaluru traffic is not that easy,” Raghavan observed.

Earlier, STUP Consultants Pvt. Ltd. was awarded the depot’s Detailed Design Consultant (DDC) contract in January 2020 and its value was Rs 4.47 crore. Challaghatta Depot is of crucial importance as all trains of the Baiyappanahalli-Kengeri Line (that would be later extended till Challaghatta) will be stabled and maintained there.

The initial plan was to have an elevated depot, later it was dropped for a ground level depot. The decision to change the plan helped save Rs 400 crore. It is expected that the final 1.314 km section of Reach 2B connecting Kengeri Station – Challaghatta Station will open up in 2023.

The initial plan was to have KSRTC and BMTC depots on the floor below the elevated depot, now it is ground level depot. BDA had planned to build the road from the layout to the upcoming Challaghatta station to ensure Metro connectivity for residents here.

This is expected to help BMRCL to increase daily ridership around 15,500, especially from places like Bidadi, Ramanagara, Mandya as commuters can park their vehicle at the depot and use metro purple line to enter the city.