MUMBAI: The change of guard in the state government and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority's (MMRDA) decision to release a portion of pending dues have given as fillip to railway infrastructure projects under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) as the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has opened the financial bids for the improvement of 18 suburban stations. Responses have already been received for eight stations.
Of the 18 stations for which bids were invited, seven each are on Western Railway and Central Railway Main line and four on Harbour line. "We opened the financial bids on Thursday. We will finalise the contractors in a few weeks. Work can begin after monsoon," MRVC chairman and managing director S C Gupta said.
The MRVC had put on hold all projects under the MUTP as the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi state government had not released its share of payment since 2020. After a hue and cry, the MMRDA recently released Rs 300 crore in two instalments. The state government still owes MRVC Rs 700 crore. A MRVC official said, "The release of this payment had given us the confidence to go ahead with the tendering process which had been put on hold. Now that the new government is in place, we do not expect a financial crunch."
The 18 stations that will now undergo a makeover have been divided into seven packages; responses have been received for four packages for Mumbai Central, Santacruz, Kandivli, Mira Road, Mulund, Dombivli, Neral and Kasara stations. The estimated redevelopment cost of these eight stations has been pegged at Rs 534 crore.
The work will be similar to that carried out at Andheri, Borivli and Goregaon stations where decks have been built to reduce congestion and ensure faster dispersal of railway passengers.
The station improvement works include providing foot over-bridges (FOBs), elevated decks, interconnection of FOBs with decks, relocation of service buildings and food stalls from platforms, improvement of circulating area, entry/exit points, escalators, elevators, green patches, better aesthetics and lighting, said an official. "The work can be completed within 36 months from the issue of work order. We estimate to complete the project by the end of 2025," he added.
MRVC is a 50:50 joint venture between the state government and ministry of railways and project costs are to be borne equally by both. Funds for projects executed by the MRVC are released by MMRDA and Cidco.
