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ShareMUMBAI: Dedicated Freight Corridor Ltd (DFCL), the railway ministry's special purpose vehicle, held a meeting with the interested parties in the construction sector two days back to discuss issues and options for awarding engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts in the upcoming freight corridor.
The meeting focussed on understanding the needs and expectations of the companies participating in the ambitious project, which will be undertaken on EPC basis. DFCL also sought suggestions on eligibility and qualification criteria for the various projects.
R K Sinha, director-finance, DFCL, said, "Since it is the first time that an EPC kind of a contract is being done, we wanted to know if the participating companies were comfortable with it or not, and whether they are interested in this kind of format before we float the request of proposal (RoP)."
Various other issues like risk allocation, price variation, size of tenders and quoting a lump sum amount while bidding were also discussed. "We also enquired about the time frame in which this kind of a work could be completed so as to design the tenders that way," Sinha said.
DFCL management met most of the 48 groups that had submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) for the 300-km stretch of Kanpur-Khurja section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor Project. Companies such as Kalindee Rail Nirman Engineering Ltd (KRNL), Larsen & Toubro, Gammon India, Punj Lloyd, Alstom Projects India have shown interest for this first phase of the project.
EoIs were sought for projects including track laying, new lines, upgradation of signals with newer and faster technology, rolling stocks and conversion of meter gauge to broad gauge.
This 300-km stretch is part of the eastern dedicated rail corridor which will connect Ludhiana-Kolkata. The total project comprising western and eastern corridors, for a total track length of 2,763 kms, will cost around Rs 28,200 crore in the first phase.
While one of the issues raised by the companies was that there was no need for conducting a similar survey for a project by each company, Sinha said it is part of the format. "We are following the FIDIC form of contracting, which has issued certain formats under which contracting can be done. The companies may or may not look at doing a survey after following the survey provided by us," Sinha said.
Belgium based International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) is renowned organisation which produces standard forms of contract for engineering construction and provision of mechanical and electrical plant.
Sinha said that the meeting served the purpose and based on the suggestions, DFCL would come up with a request of qualification by the end of this month.
Post this, the RoPs, would be floated by September this year.
