Scomi eyes MRTS project in Kerala

by **Cals** Sun 20 Oct 2013, 19:09

Published: Saturday October 19, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Saturday October 19, 2013 MYT 7:22:54 AM
Scomi eyes MRTS project in Kerala

NEW DELHI: Scomi Engineering Bhd is keen to participate in the elevated Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) project in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode in India’s southern state of Kerala.
“If the project tender is refloated, we would be keen to participate,” its head of business development, S. Selvaraja Chinnasamy, said when asked about news report that the tender for the project would be refloated.
Participation would also depend on the rules and regulations for the Expression of Interest (EOI), he said, adding: “If the current stringent specifications are relaxed, we would be interested.”
The Hindu newspaper reported that a global tender for the said project would be refloated to select the exclusive developer-contractor, as only one firm, Bombardier Transportation, had come forward with the EOI when an extended deadline for submission ended on Tuesday.
The EOI is part of the global tender floated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corp (DMRC), the general consultant for Kerala Mono Rail Corp Ltd (KMCL), a special purpose vehicle set up by the government to execute the project in the two cities.
Confirming that only one company had submitted the EOI, State Planning Board member and principal adviser DMRC, E. Sreedharan told the English-daily: “We cannot go forward with the EOI from one company and will have to go for re-tendering again.”
Firms specialising in MRTS from the UK, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and China had expressed interest in the project and attended the pre-EOI conference held in Delhi.
But the overall lack of interest from relevant companies in submitting the EOI has surprised proponents of the project and Sreedharan, who had announced that work on the monorail in Kozhikode, would commence in February.
The last date of submission of the EOI was Oct 1 and was extended to Oct 15 following requests from the participants.
Sreedharan was reported as saying that a high level meeting in Delhi on Monday would discuss the issue in detail and come up with a course of action. – Bernama
Global tenders were floated by treating the two monorail projects as one, as only a 36.4km stretch would be covered in the first phase, in both the cities. – Bernama