The tender process to develop the proposed US$522-million (about Rs 32,350 million) Chennai monorail PPP project has attracted several teams.

A request for qualification (RFQ) was issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu (India), through the Metropolitan Transport Corporation of Chennai in early February this year.

According to sources two or three consortia have shown interest in the rail PPP project. Bombardier which previously expressed interest, and a Chinese firm that runs the Monorail system in the mountainous city of Chongqing, would be among the interested companies, according to local newspapers.

The consortium should include a member holding a 10% stake during five years and with two years of experience operating and maintaining metro any kind of rail projects.

According to a government official,  a Monorail sub-committee would meet next week to decide what the next steps are.

The estimated length of the line is 21 km. The project will be taken up through public-private partnership (PPP) on a design, build, finance operate and transfer (DBFOT). Four corridors have been identified based on a feasibility study. According to sources the contract period would be 30 years.

The contract also includes the provision of rolling stock material for the project.

The state administration said that the advantages of the project were: land acquisition was minimal, monorail is safe, consumes less space, easy to construct, cause minimal disruption during construction, aesthetically pleasing, no grid power required for operation, environment friendly and cost-efficient.

See tender documents:

• Manual of Specifications and Standards: http://infrapppworld.com/wp-content/uploads/Manual-of-Specifications-and-Standards.pdf
• Draft Concession Agreement: http://infrapppworld.com/wp-content/uploads/Chennai-Monorail-Draft-Concession-Agreement.pdf