Larsen & Toubro has emerged as the lowest bidder for the design and construction of the proposed Hyderabad Airport Express Metro Line project. The bids were opened on Monday, a top Telangana government official confirmed .
L&T, which also constructed the 72-km Hyderabad Metro rail project that operates on three corridors, beat the other bidder in the fray, Hyderabad-based NCC Ltd, for the 31-km-long airport metro that will connect Raidurg with the GMR Hyderabad International Airport.
The bid documents were scrutinised by experts from the SYSTRA, RITES and BD Engineering consortium, which was selected as general consultant for the project.
The project will have an elevated 29.3-km portion and a 1.7-km underground portion near the airport terminal that will house the underground metro station. The scope of the Rs 5,688 crore engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project includes construction of nine metro stations, elevated viaduct, engineering & manufacturing works, track works, supply and commissioning of the rolling stock, traction and power supply, signalling & telecommunications and automated fare collection, among others.
Construction work is expected to start in September and the project must be completed in 36 months. HAML had invited bids in May through the international competitive bidding route. Though initially 13 players, including Tata Projects, Siemens, IRCON, RVNL and BEML Ltd evinced interest, only two were left in the fray.
While Hyderabad Metro rail project was set up in public private partnership mode by L&T and Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd and implemented on design, build, finance, operate and transfer mode, the airport metro is being funded by the Telangana government. Hyderabad Metro Development Authority and GMR Hyderabad International Airport are chipping in with a 10% share each of the total Rs 6,250 crore project cost.