Mumbai Metro construction already behind schedule

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) has set its sights on a deadline of mid-2020 to throw open the underground metro rail line.

This deadline is achievable only if everything goes as planned and if there aren't any delays or hurdles faced throughout the construction phase of six years.

But the fact is that the awarding of the contract for construction of civil works, that is tunnels and stations, is already behind schedule.

A look at MMRC's drawing board shows that the civil works should have taken off in early 2015, but the reality is that the bidders – 9 consortia – are yet to submit their technical and financial bids.

The MMRC will take up most of this year to assess the technical bids, and if the bids are acceptable, only then would the sealed financial quotations be opened. Therefore, it is only during the end of this calendar year that the project would be parcelled out in 7 different installments.

This means groundwork should commence either by November-December 2015 or some time in January-March 2016.

Once the system is ready, it will take another 6 months for rigorous rounds of testing, trials and certifications followed by determination of the initial fare.

By the time all this happens the year 2021 will have set in.