Afcons wins KMRC contract for East-West metro corridor

Afcons Infrastructure, the infrastructure arm of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, has been awarded a contract by the Kolakata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) to construct the final underground portion of the East-West metro corridor project. The project will involve boring and tunnelling below the Hooghly river.

The award comes a few weeks from its receipt of a contract for the  underground section of the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation.

Earlier this month, ITD Cementation Ltd was awarded the Rs909-crore contract for construction of the underground section from Subhas Sarobar to Central Station. Afcons will subsequently construct the remainder of the line from Central Station to Howrah Maidan at a cost of Rs938 crore.

In a joint venture with Russia's Transtonnelstroy Limited, Afcons will build three underground stations and twin-bored tunnels of length 2,654 meters, of East-West metro corridor of which approximately 520 metres will be under the river.

According to Afcons director (transportation) Ramakrishna V Ramanan, this will be the first time in India that a transportation project involving a tunnel, approximately 20 metres below a river is being undertaken. The project would be a boon to commuters traveling from Howrah to Kolkata.
 
The latest technologies would be deployed in the project which would go a long way in boosting the transporation infrastructure of the city.

KMRC, a union urban development ministry and state government joint venture, is developing the Rs4676.40 crore East-West metro corridor project comprising a 5.7 km-long elevated section and an eight km-long underground segment.