L&T quotes lowest bid for the Hyderabad Metro

L&T quotes lowest bid for the Hyderabad MetroLarsen & Toubro have gained the upper hand in landing the Hyderabad Metro Project after they emerged as the lowest bidder for the multi-crore project. Larsen & Toubro have come forward to help finish the Metro Project for Rs. 12,132 crore, after the state government decided to pull the plug on the deal with Maytas Infra of B Ramalinga, former chairman of Satyam Computers.

Sources from the state government say that, L&T quoted the lowest viability gap funding (VGF), which defines the measure of the government's financial support to make the project an economically viable entity, to outdo bidders including Reliance. L&T offered to undertake the project for 1,850 crore as VGF as compared to the sanctioned 4,853 crore.

The government had received bids from big market players including Larsen & Toubro Lanco-OHL Spain, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Essar- Leighton Australia, Gayatri Constructions, VNR Consortium, GVK-Samsung, GMR, Transstroy-OJSC Russia, CR 18 of China and BEML Consortium and Soma-Strabag after Maytas Infra failed to achieve financial closure following the Satyam scam ensuing in the loss of 71 crore paid as security deposit.

The state government is yet to officially recognize the bidder, but L&T have the edge.