GMRC Terminates IL&FS Ahmedabad Metro Project Contract Citing Delays; J Kumar Infrastructure To Execute Work

The recently renamed Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) on Thursday (10 January) has terminated IL&FS Engineering & Construction firm’s Rs 374.64-crore contract due to project delays, the Metro Rail News reports. The new contract to build four metro stations and a 4.6-km-long viaduct has now been awarded to J Kumar Infrastructure.

The parent company of IL&FS firm was facing financial constraints due to which they had halted work in September 2018. The GMRC said they had sent many notices to the firm to complete the work by March 2018, according to the schedule. “We have terminated the contract of IL&FS Engineering & Construction”.

The statement adds, “They were to build four stations and a 4.6-km viaduct for the Ahmedabad Metro at a cost of Rs 374.64 crore”. Various notices dating back to October 2017 had been served as they had not met the deadline, the statement said, while adding that the contractor stopped working unilaterally by September-end (2018).

“A final show-cause notice was given in November 2018 and today (Thursday) we decided to terminate the contract,” the statement said. Further, the company, under the terms and conditions of the contract, had not performed satisfactorily.

The contract was terminated since the company was not in a position to continue the work, the statement said, before adding that the rest of the work has been handed to J Kumar infrastructure, which has already begun to encash the bank guarantee of the previous firm.