Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail Project

At a time when the situation at the border has been escalating and the tensions rising in both the sides, a Chinese firm became the lowest bidder for constructing the Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) tunnel. A 5.6 km tunnel construction will take place between New Ashok Nagar and Sahibabad on the 82 km stretch of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS project for which the Chinese firm Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company Ltd (STEC) bid the lowest.

The Union Ministry of Urban Development, however, clarified that the tender had still not been finalised and the process of awarding the tenser is still under progress. The remarks from the ministry came after the tensions at the Inia-China border led to 20 Indian soldiers being martyred and at least 40-45 PLA (People’s Liberation Army) being killed in the stand-off. The Chinese govt. however, did not confirm the number of soldiers killed on their end. National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) has undertaken the 82 km long stretch for Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) is an ADB funded project for the design and construction of 5.6 kms tunnel through TBM and 1 RRTS station. The other companies that had qualified for the bid were SKEC (Korea) and Tata, L&T, STEC, Afcons, and Gulermakgir (Turkey). National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is also undertaking the construction work of the semi-high speed Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut 82 km long stretch.