Chinese firm to construct stretch of Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor

NEW DELHI: A Chinese construction major has been granted the contract to build a 5.6 kilometres (km) underground stretch of the upcoming Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project. The project has been awarded to the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company (STECS) after six months of controversy which emerged over the foreign company emerging as the lowest bidder for Rs 1,000 crore.

The underground stretch, between New Ashok Nagar and Sahibabad, will be constructed by STECS after it defeated the Indian civil construction majors last June when the financial bids were open. The officials said that the RRTS corridor is being financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the acquisition is governed by the guidelines of the bank and the government.

The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), which is launching the country’s first RRTS project, said that the contract was granted following the set procedure and guidelines applicable on an ADB-financed project.

An NCRTC spokesperson said that the approvals must be taken at various levels for the bids that are funded by the multilateral agencies. This bid was also awarded following set procedure and guidelines. He added that the construction is in full swing on the 82-km-long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor to commission the project in time.