9 bidders for Bangalore – Mangalore Expressway DPR Consultancy Contract

Nine companies have submitted bids to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the construction of the Mangaluru – Bangalore highway in Karnataka after India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) opened technical bids on Tuesday.

This 4-6 lane greenfield controlled access highway, approximately 300 km long, will connect Bangalore and Mangalore via Hassan. While the DPR will suggest optimal alignment and interchanges among other parameters, I imagine it will likely have its eastern terminal on the under-construction Bangalore Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR or NH-948A project).

MoRTH had floated a tender for this contract in June 2024 with a duration of 1.5 years and an unknown estimate.

Bidders

• AICONS Engineering Pvt. Ltd.
• Chaitanya Projects Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.
• Consulting Engineers Group Ltd.
• Egis India Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd.
• Lion Engineering Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
• LN Malviya Infra Projects Pvt. Ltd.
• Monarch Surveyors and Engineering Consultants Ltd.
• SA Infrastructure Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
• Thematic Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd.

MorTH’s Brief scope: Consultancy services for preparation of detailed project report for construction of 4/6 lane high speed corridor/expressway between Mangaluru-Bengaluru passing through the state of Karnataka.

The bids have now been sent for technical bid evaluation, which may take a couple of months to complete. Once this is done, financial bids from technically qualified bidders will be opened to reveal who is the lowest bidder and most likely consultant.

If a contract is awarded in the first half of 2025, we can expect the DPR to be finalized by the end of 2026. After that it will review approval motions, land acquisition and other authorizations, so at this time I expect construction work they will begin no earlier than 2028.

Once operational, the Bangalore – Mangalore Expressway is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities to around 3 hours from the current 7 hours travel time. In August I created a basic information page where I will post updates. Check it out here: Mangalore – Bangalore Expressway – Information and Status

This expressway (package 7) is part of a series of 5 new expressways (or “high-speed corridors” as MoRTH now calls them) proposed for construction in India. Here’s a summary of everything: Click on the package number to see the list of bidders (to be updated as I post):