In March 2018, CHECL which is linked with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had withdrawn from the bidding of 17-km-long Bandra-Versova Sea-Link.
Two Chinese companies have withdrawn from the bidding for the construction of the 704-km-long Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway also known as the Samruddhi Mahamarg despite being qualified for the same, officials from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said.
Two companies namely the China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHECL) and the China Construction Fifth Engineering Division Corporation Limited (CCFEDCL) have not submitted their bids despite qualifying for the bidding process, the officials added.
According to a senior MSRDC official, "CCFEDCL had informed us about withdrawing but CHECL did not inform us anything."
In March 2018, CHECL which is linked with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had withdrawn from the bidding of 17-km-long Bandra-Versova Sea-Link. Sources from the MSRDC had said that Chinese companies had feared not getting security clearance from the Union Home Ministry, which is required if the stake of the foreign partner is more than 50 per cent. DNA had reported in July 2017 on how a Chinese consortium was denied security clearance from Union Home Ministry for the construction of 22-km-long Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) connecting Mumbai with Navi Mumbai.
"For Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, there was nothing like that, and Chinese companies would have got a security clearance for which we had applied but the withdrawal could also be some business strategy," a MSRDC official said.
Meanwhile, MSRDC has divided the civil construction of South Asia's largest proposed Expressway between Mumbai and Nagpur in 16 packages (sections) of which it has shortlisted around 18 proposals for 13 packages. "We are scrutinising the bank guarantees of these 18 proposals, and later we will open their financial quotations," a MSRDC official added.
The overall construction of Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway is estimated to be Rs 46,000 crore of which around Rs 30,000 crore is civil construction cost for which around 10,000 hectares of land is required of which around 80 per cent is acquired.
It will have six lanes with an additional two service roads on each side and the entire Expressway is expected to bring down the travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur to 10 hours from the current 17-18 hours via road.
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