West Bengal invites fresh bids for 900 MW Bandu Pumped Storage Project
In February 2023, as per the information available with Projects Today, 4,370 project tenders worth Rs 1,10,682 crore were issued by various companies and agencies. Of the total new projects tender, 15 were of mega value (Rs 1,000 crore and above) and accounted for around one-fourth of the total tender value issued in the month. These mega tenders were issued in the Hydel Based Power, Roadways, Power Distribution, Shipping Infrastructure, and Railways sectors.
Of the 4,370 tenders, the most notable tender was issued by the Department of Power, West Bengal for the selection of developer of the 900 MW Bandu Pumped Storage Project in Purulia district, West Bengal on a DBFOT basis. The aggregate value of the tenders was Rs 4,700 crore.
Another most notable tender of the month was issued by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the construction of a 4-lane Pathalgaon-Kunkuri-CG/JH border section of NH-43 starting from Turua Ama village to Putrichoura village as part of Raipur-Dhanbad Economic Corridor in Chhattisgarh of Package-1&2 under Bharatmala Pariyojana. The aggregate value of the tenders was Rs 2,679.83 crore.
Infrastructure Tenders
The Roadways sector saw the issuance of 1,119 tenders worth Rs 41,749.19 crore in the month of February 2023. Apart from the Pathalgaon-Kunkuri 4-lane highway project, NHAI also floated a tender for the construction of a 6-lane high level/extra-dosed cable bridge on Ganga River parallel to the Western side (180 meter upstream) of Digha-Sonepur Rail-cum-Road Bridge at Patna on Ganga River on NH-139W in the state of Bihar on EPC mode. The estimated value of the work was Rs 2,635.89 crore.
While, the NHAI floated 88 roadways tenders worth Rs 17,677.47 crore, in terms of number of tenders, state-owned agencies like the Rural Development Department (RDD) of Odisha and the Public Works Department of Maharashtra topped in this sector.
RDD, Odisha issued 139 tenders worth Rs 578.44 crore for rural road building and PWD, Maharashtra floated 105 tenders worth Rs 933.45 crore in this sector. And National Highways Authority of India floated 88 tenders with an aggregate value of Rs 1,7677.47 crore.
In the Water Supply sector, 1,008 tenders worth Rs 15,047 crore were issued during February 2023. The most notable tender in this sector was floated by the Public Health Engineering Department, West Bengal for laying of the distribution system of DI/UPVC pipe, providing FHTC, construction of overhead reservoir of 20 mtr staging height of zone wise different capacities, pump house/guard room/switch room/chlorine room etc. land development and beautification, pipe supporting structure, approach road, and other allied works of 28 nos. zone of surface water based water supply scheme for arsenic affected areas of Habra-Gaighata and adjoining moujas in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal with an aggregate value of Rs 432.52 crore.
The water supply agency of West Bengal, Public Health Engineering Department floated 522 tenders with an aggregate value of Rs 4896.04 crore and Kerala Water Authority floated 74 tenders with an aggregate value of Rs 1090.22 crore.
In the Community Services sector, 701 tenders worth Rs 7,981 crore were floated during the month. The most notable tender in this sector was floated by NBCC (India) for the construction of inter-disciplinary academic administrative & research building at Maurice Nagar, University of Delhi on an EPC basis with an aggregate value of Rs 282.76 crore.
In the Railways sector, 249 work related tenders worth Rs 8,030 crore were issued. The most notable tender in this sector was floated by Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corpn. for design & construction of TBM tunnel, cut & cover tunnel, ramp after Double Pullia, ramps in agriculture depot for mainline and depot connections and three underground metro stations (viz Rawatpur, Kakadeo and Double Pullia) including architectural finishes etc. at Kanpur on corridor-2 of Kanpur MRTS Project in Uttar Pradesh worth Rs 1,025 crore.
The Irrigation sector saw the publishing of 222 tenders worth Rs 8,654 crore. The Water Resources Department, Rajasthan issued a tender for construction of a dam across Sei River & Sabarmati River for the diversion of surplus water of Sabarmati Basin to Jawai Dam near Buja & Chak-Sandmariya village in Udaipur district of Rajasthan with an aggregate value of Rs 1,120 crore.
In the Power Distribution sector, 213 tenders worth Rs 8,576 crore were issued in February 2023. Of this, the largest tender was issued by the Kerala State Electricity Board. It issued a tender worth Rs 2,400 crore for the appointment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) service provider for 37 lakh prepaid smart meters in Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) on DBFOOT basis under TOTEX mode as part of RDSS.
The Hospitals sector saw publishing of 163 tenders worth Rs 2,416 crore. The Health & Family Welfare Department, Karnataka issued tenders for the construction of administrative block for Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) and Medical College with allied facilities at Archakarahalli village in Ramanagara district of Karnataka. The aggregate estimated value of the work was Rs 457.26 crore.
While in the Hydel Based Power sector, 11 tenders worth Rs 4,704.55 crore were issued, in the Shipping Infrastructure sector 11 work-related tenders worth Rs 2,346 crore were published.
With most of the state governments announcing their infrastructure plans for FY2024 in their respective budgets, the number of project tenders is expected to increase in the coming months.
