CIDCO may appoint MMMOCL to operate and maintain Navi Mumbai Metro

Navi Mumbai (Urban Transport News): The City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) is planning to appoint the Maha Mumbai Metro Operations Corporation Limited (MMMOCL) after no bidders responded to the tender for operating and maintaining the Navi Mumbai Metro line 1. In December last year, CIDCO had floated a tender for Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Services for Navi Mumbai Metro Line-1 from Belapur to Pendhar, but even after several extensions, no bidder has shown interest to operate and maintain the Navi Mumbai Metro line.

The scope of work includes Operation of trains, Metro Systems, Depot, OCC, stations & DCC, Emergency planning and disaster management, Ticketing, Fare collection and depositing in Bank, cleaning and upkeeping of trains, stations, RSS and Depot buildings including all other Civil Structures, security of Metro assets, preventive and breakdown maintenance of Navi Mumbai Metro Line 1 systems. A senior officer from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said:

The plan is in a very initial stage but CIDCO and MMMOCL are very positive about it. However, talks are still going on in what ratio revenue will be shared, as CIDCO had borne the cost of the project.

The Maha Mumbai Metro Operations Corporation Limited (MMMOCL) was set up by MMRDA only to operate the Metro Rail network in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). On September 12, the Navi Mumbai Metro line 1 (Belapur-Pendhar) was flagged off by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The CIDCO has born the cost Rs 3,064 crore against the construction of 11 stations of Navi Mumbai Metro line. Officials from CIDCO said:

It was good to give the operation and maintenance to a firm which is government-owned and specially dedicated to operating Metro corridors, rather than giving a contract to a private company which will take more time and also cost more.

MMRDA, Dilip Kavathkar, Joint Project Director and Spokesperson of MMRDA, said:

Talks with CIDCO are going on about taking over Navi Mumbai Metro operations, but the plan is in a very initial stage and as CIDCO had spent more than Rs 3,000 crores, we have to see how revenue will be shared.

The MMMOPL is now recruiting the staff to provide the operation and maintenance services to upcoming lines in Mumbai Metro Rail Network.