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Vinod Mathew

Mumbai , March 3

THE Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, that found special mention by the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, during his Budget speech, is up and running. Six international consortiums are pitted against each other in the RFQ (request for quotation) stage for the first phase implementation of what is billed to become the second longest bridge in the world. Currently, the longest such linkage is the one between Malmo in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark.

"If there are no further delays, the Government should award the contract to the successful consortium by June-July. Thereafter, it will take up to 40 months to complete the engineering and construction work of the trans harbour sea link. As of now, there is an in-principle decision to name the bridge after JRD Tata," a State Government official told Business Line.

The first phase is estimated to cost Rs 4,000 crore and will have a 22.5-km, six-lane sea link connecting Nhava in mainland Mumbai and Sewri in the island city. From Sewri, there will be two `dispersal systems' — essentially overhead bridges across the existing roads. One will be an eight-km bridge connecting Sewri with Colaba and another, a four-km bridge between Sewri and Worli. The Union Government funding is expected to be around Rs 1,000 crore.

The project has attracted the interest of Indian majors such as Reliance Energy, L&T, Gammon India, Shapoorji Pallonji, IL&FS. Among the international heavyweights are Hyundai, Bouygues, Italthai and China Harbour. Of the six consortiums that are in the fray, only Hong Kong company has sought to bid on its own.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) that floated the global tenders for building the sea link on a BOT basis in early 2004, after a number of delays, had opened the RFQ on January 10. The MSRDC has also appointed Jean-Miller, France in association with the Delhi-based Stup Consultants for advising them at the RFP (request for price) stage.

It is understood that MSRDC was keen on implementing the project on its own even after the global tender was floated a year ago. Another reason cited for the delay is MSRDC not getting the requisite clearance from the Ministry of Environment & Forest. With Mr Chidamabaram mentioning the project by name under the National Urban Renewal Mission, no more delays are likely.

This project is seen to be of vital importance with the Mumbai Western Expressway sea link (also mentioned by the Finance Minister in his Budget speech) remaining a non-starter as periodic delays have led to high cost escalation. The project cost of Rs 4,000 crore is only for the first phase of the Sewri-Nhava sea link as the second phase envisages a railway link at an outlay of Rs 2,600 crore.

A dream project of Sir J.R.D. Tata, who chaired a committee for its implementation way back in 1981, the trans harbour link may finally get commissioned by 2009.

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