5 Firms Bid for Kochi Metro Phase 2's General Consultant Contract

Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) has opened technical bids for the General Consultant (GC) contract for Phase 2 of the Kochi Metro project. The contract is for the construction of an 11.2 km elevated corridor, named Pink Line, with 11 stations connecting JLN Stadium – Kakkanad – Infopark (Smart City). Five firms have submitted bids for the contract: DB Engineering and Consulting GmbH (likely in a JV with BARSYL)Egis India Consulting EngineersLouis Berger ConsultingRINA Consulting S.p.A (likely in a JV with ICT)SYSTRA MVA Consulting The GC's appointment will be on the QCBS (Quality and Cost Based Selection) basis with a two-stage (technical & financial score-based) process getting adopted for evaluating proposals. The Pink Line's 11 stations will come up at Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium (new station box next to Blue Line), Palarivattom Junction, Palarivattom Bypass, Chembumukku, Vazhakkala, Padamughal (formerly Kunnumpuram), Kakkanad Junction, Cochin SEZ (Special Economic Zone), Chittethukara, KINFRA (formerly Rajagiri), and InfoPark / Smart City (connected to Kochi Water Metro). There has been a lot of recent pre-construction activity for Phase 2. In the last 2 months, Egis Rail was declared the lowest bidder for the station components' DDC contract, while SYSTRA was declared the lowest bidder for the Electrification system's DDC contract. The contract is expected to be awarded in the next few months, and construction will start in 2024. The Pink Line is expected to be completed in 2027.