Fresh tenders to bring 149-km-long Bengaluru suburban rail project back on track

Bengaluru: The 149-km Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP) is limping back on track, with K-RIDE deciding to call fresh tenders for two corridors where work had stalled following a dispute with the contractor. 

The 10-member K-RIDE board, led by Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, decided Monday to invite fresh tenders to complete the remaining civil work on Corridor 2 (Benniganahalli-Chikkabanavara, 25.01 km) and Corridor 4 (Heelalige-Rajanukunte, 46.88 km).

The move, based on the advice of the Advocate General, comes ironically in the very month when the entire project of four corridors was supposed to complete, as per a 40-month public deadline set by PM Narendra Modi in June 2020. 

Touted as an ambitious project that will complement Namma Metro, BSRP has struggled to take off due to coordination issues between Karnataka and the railways. Work began only on two corridors but came to a halt in March this year. Physical progress is just 18.5%. 

L&T was awarded the contract for Corridor 2 on Aug 26, 2022, and for Corridor 4 on Dec 30, 2023. But, on July 28, L&T terminated both contracts and demanded Rs 505 crore in claims. 

In a legal notice, L&T said that even 22 months after the Letter of Acceptance, only 12.83 km or 49.44% of the workfront was made available, that, too, in “unworkable fragmented stretches”. The company initiated arbitration proceedings on August 8. 

With L&T out of the picture, the K-RIDE board has now decided to call fresh tenders. It’s also contesting a commercial court’s stay on encashing L&T’s bank guarantee. 

Tenders for Corridor 2 will be floated in three packages (Chikkabanavara-Yeshwantpur, Yeshwantpur-Hebbal and Hebbal-Benniganahalli) in the next few days, and the work order will be awarded by December. Corridor 4 tenders will be invited in November, and contracts will likely be awarded early next year. 

K-RIDE Managing Director Govinda Reddy said they had no other option but to call fresh tenders after L&T “illegally and unilaterally” terminated the contract and went for arbitration. 

“We cannot stop work pending arbitration,” he told DH, expressing hope of expediting construction on Corridor 2, where 20% work has been completed and K-RIDE has 92% of the land. 

Work on Corridor 4 will begin later when at least 80% of the land is available, he added. 

Reddy said things were also looking up on rolling stock procurement, with the railways giving in-principle approval a few months ago to provide 50% equity to buy 306 metro-like coaches for Rs 4,270.30 crore. 

Sources said the deadlines for Chikkabanavara-Yeshwantpur and Hebbal-Benniganahalli packages would be 18 months from the award date, and 24 months for Yeshwantpur-Hebbal. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is yet to approve the railways’ proposal to provide 50% equity for rolling stock procurement, sources said.