14 firms bid for city's 1st underground Metro line from Colaba to Seepz.

Fourteen companies in joint ventures have submitted pre-qualification bids for the construction of the city's first underground Metro rail from Colaba to Seepz via Bandra, billed as one of the most expensive infrastructure projects of the city.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will now evaluate the proposals and prepare a shortlist of companies based on their experience and eligibility. Thereafter, the development authority will float requests for proposals for the actual construction.

'We will take 90 days to evaluate bids and shortlist eligible companies. Positive net worth calculated as the difference between total assets and total liabilities for the past five years and average annual construction turnover of not less than $175 million for the past five years were two of the main qualification criteria,' MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar said.

The development authority had last month decided to dilute eligibility norms on the request of many potential bidders so as to widen the competition for the project.

The MMRDA had invited pre-qualification bids for the 33.5-km Metro line, estimated to cost Rs. 23,126 crore, in September last year and was hoping to invite financial bids by the end of last year. However, the last date for submission of bids was extended on five occasions to ultimately March 10.

THE INDIAN EXPRESS