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The Madras High Court on Tuesday allowed Chennai Metro Rail Ltd to go ahead with the re-tender process for the incomplete underground tunnel work along the arterial Anna Salai.
The ₹1,947-crore project was originally awarded to Gammon but was terminated by CMRL due to delay in project completion.
Re-tender specifics Gammon’s Russian partner Mosmetrotroy was entrusted with the underground work but the company abandoned the project demanding a higher rate. This was refused by CMRL. The re-tender is to design and construct the works not completed by Gammon-Mosmetrostroy including underground stations at the Government Estate, LIC, Thousand lights, AG-DMS, Teynampet, Nandanam and Saidapet. It will also cover the Saidapet ramp portion and associated tunnels.
Justice K Ravichandrabaabu refused to stay Gammon’s petition, seeking a stay on the re-tender. He asked both CMRL and Gammon to go for arbitration proceedings in four weeks. Gammon has already invoked the arbitration, said its counsel.
The judge told CMRL to keep alive the bank guarantee given by Gammon till arbitration is over. The Gammon-Mosmetrostroy joint venture was awarded two contracts of design and construction of underground stations and associated tunnels for CMRL amounting to ₹1,947 crore, covering a total length of 18 km and 19 underground stations.
CMRL had issued show-cause notices to Gammon on previous occasions for delays in the completion of work. Gammon was the not first company to be terminated by CMRL.
Project delay Earlier, the contracts of Consolidated Construction Consortium Limited and Lanco Infratech Ltd were also terminated by CMRL for slow pace of work.
New tenders were issued for the incomplete works after a few months.
With the termination of Gammon, the entire project will be delayed by more than a year. Going by the tender document, the duration of the contract will be for 20 months from the date of signing. This means, even if the tender is signed before December, the project will be completed only by 2017, they said.
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