Chennai: The city moved one step closer to having a world class central square, with the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) floating tenders for appointing consultants for the mega project.
CMRL has invited bids for designs for civil, architectural and landscaping among other works. The tenders floated late last week will be opened on November 30 at the CMRL headquarters. Metro has invited bidders for the pre-bid meeting to be held at CMRL headquarters at Koyambedu on October 27. The consultant would be appointed in two months from then, a senior government source said.
After opening the technical and financial bids, the companies’ expertise in executing such projects would be studied. In all probability, the government will need another three months to finalise the consultant, sources added. Consultant of the Central Square project will also have the responsibility of procuring construction contracts, supervising construction and project management.
Three year deadline for Central Square project: The government will approve the most attractive and cost effective project and float international tenders for choosing the company to do the work, which will consume another three months. The government is understood to have given enough indication to CMRL that it would go easy on money as long as metro comes up with the most attractive central square design, something on a par with international destinations or even more.
The government has set a three-year deadline for the project, a highly placed state government source privy to the development told Deccan Chronicle, adding that CMRL had made a presentation to the Chief Minister on the central square project early this year and the subsequent government announcement happened only after the presentation impressed the CM.
