A major Chinese builder has been awarded the contract to build a 5.6 km underground section of the upcoming RRTS Delhi-Meerut project, six months after a controversy broke out over the foreign company emerging as the lowest bidder for the contract. over Rs-1,000 crore.
The underground stretch, between New Ashok Nagar and Sahibabad, will be built by Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company after it defeated large Indian civil construction companies last June when financial tenders opened.
The National Capital Region Transportation Corporation (NCRTC), which is executing the country’s first Regional Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) project, said the contract was awarded following the established procedure and guidelines applicable to a project financed by the Asian Development Bank. “Approvals must be taken at various levels for tenders that are funded by multilateral agencies. This offer was also awarded following an established procedure and guidelines, ”an NCRTC spokesperson told The Indian Express on Sunday. “All contracts have been functional since last month. Construction is in full swing on the 82 km long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor to get the project underway on time, ”he said.
The RRTS corridor is being financed by the Asian Development Bank and the acquisitions are governed by bank and government guidelines, officials said.
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