Bengaluru Suburban Rail: L&T Emerges As Lowest Bidder For Kanaka Line Civil Works Tender

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Limited has been identified as the lowest bidder for the civil work tender of the Kanaka Line of the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP).

In January this year, Karnataka Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (K-RIDE), a special purpose vehicle formed by the government of Karnataka and the Union Ministry of Railways for executing the project, floated the civil work tender for Kanaka Line.

K-RIDE invited bids under the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model for the design and construction of an elevated viaduct (length: 8.96 km) and at-grade formation of 37.92 km length (excluding station buildings).

The scope of work also includes road widening, side drains, and construction of service roads.

Under the EPC model, four companies participated in the tender for the design and construction of the Kanaka Line — L&T Ltd, Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, INTARVO Technologies, and Dinesh Chandra R Agrawal Infracon Pvt Ltd.

The bidders were required to provide separate lump sum quotes for the elevated and at-grade sections of the project. The issuance of the letter of acceptance (LoA) will be subject to approvals from the relevant authorities.

The official stated their commitment to completing the LoA process by the end of September. Once the contract is awarded, the deadline for completion will be set at 30 months, reports Deccan Herald.

The bids submitted by L&T and Afcons were quoted at Rs 1,021 crore and Rs 1,424 crore respectively. However, the financial bids of INTARVO Technologies and Dinesh Chandra R Agrawal Infracon Pvt Ltd were rejected due to their failure to meet the technical criteria.

To ensure smooth progress, K-RIDE has been actively working on relocating electrical, signalling, telecommunication, and other utility lines for the Kanaka Line.

For Corridor-4, K-RIDE has requested the South Western Railway to allocate 193 acre of Railway line. The acquisition of private land is also underway, as stated by officials.

The alignment for the Kanaka Line has been thoroughly surveyed, both physically and in terms of land adjustment. This survey has been completed for the entire length of the line.

The Kanaka Line (Corridor-4), connecting Rajanukunte in the north to Heelalige in the south, passing through Baiyappanahalli and Yelahanka, is the longest line of BSRP.

Kanaka Line will comprise 19 stations at Rajanukunte, Muddanahalli, Yelahanka (interchange), Jakkur, RK Hegde Nagar, Thanisandra, Hennur, Horamavu, Channasandra, Benniganahalli (interchange), Kaggadasapura, Doddanekkundi, Marathahalli, Belandur Road, Carmelaram, Ambedkar Nagar, Huskur, Singena Agrahara, Bommasandra and Heelalige.

While Marathahalli and Yelahanka stations will be elevated, the remaining stations will be at-grade.

Namma Metro and Kanaka Line in the BSRP corridor will share a common alignment for a distance of 650 m between Benniganahalli and Channasandra.

Tenders for the construction of 19 stations for Corridor-4 are likely to open in October, according to a KRIDE official.

L&T was awarded the civil work contract for Corridor-2 (Baiyappanahalli-Chikkabanavara, Sampige Line) last year. They have already begun the groundwork for this 25.02-km project.

This project involves the construction of a 25.02-km stretch from Baiyappanahalli to Chikkabanavara, known as the Sampige Line.

Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project

The commuter rail network will comprise four corridors, and 57 stations, and covers 148.17 km.

• Corridor-1: (Sampige line) connects Kempegowda International Airport.

• Corridor-3: (Parijatha Line) from Kengeri to Whitefield is the other line.

• Corridor-4: Kanaka Line is from Heelalige to Rajankunte. There are 19 stations over its 46 km of total length. It is being built at the cost of Rs 15,767 crore.

The implementing agency is seeking 800 million euros in loans to finance the suburban rail project.

The project was first proposed in 1983 by a southern railways expert team and was estimated to span 58 km. The proposal was included in Karnataka's first transportation survey, commissioned by the then chief minister R Gundu Rao.

On 20 June 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for the suburban rail project in the city.

Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project will link Bengaluru to its satellite townships, suburbs, and surrounding rural areas through a rail-based rapid-transit system network.