L&T Emerges Lowest Bidder For Bullet Train Project, Set To Win Order
Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) emerged as the lowest bidder for the design and construction of a portion of the 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), responsible for the development, execution and maintenance of the upcoming high-speed rail corridor, said on Monday that L&T was the lowest bidder in the auction of the project, which comprises the 88-kilometres-long stretch of viaduct - a type of bridge - between Vadodara and Ahmedabad, and the Anand/Nadiad Station.
An NHSRCL official said that the bids are being evaluated, which will take few more days. The process to award the letter of agreement (LoA) to the lowest bidder will be decided after evaluation, the official added.
According to NHSRCL, three bidders participated in the bidding process. Bidders included Afcons Infrastructure, IRCON International, a JMC Projects India-led consortium, and the NCC-Tata Project-J Kumar Infra Projects-HSR consortium.
Technical bids for the tender had opened on September 25.
L&T has already bagged the National High Speed Rail Corporation's contract for development of the 237-km stretch of the bridge between Vapi and Vadodara under the mega deal, which includes four elevated HSR stations - Vapi, Billimora, Surat and Bharuch - and one train depot in Surat.Â
The order represents 46.6 per cent of the total length of the project, making it longest amongst all the packages, running elevated from Zaroli Village on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border to the Vadodara station through four stations (Vapi, Bilimora, Surat and Bharuch) in Gujarat.
The 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project is funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and will cover 155.76 kilometres in Maharashtra, 4.3 kilometres in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and 348.04 kilometres in Gujarat, with 12 stations along the route.
Upon completion, the high-speed rail will operate at 320 km per hour, covering the entire distance in approximately two hours with limited stops, and in three hours with all stops.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
