Chennai Metro has the right to take over equipment, bank guarantee of Mosmetrostroy as it abandoned project, says CMRL official

Chennai:

Chennai Metro Rail on Thursday dismissed the claims of Russian
contractor Mosmetrostroy that it walked out of the project due to
tussle over the payment and said the contract has all the provisions,
including adjudication or arbitration.



“They just walked out of the project and now they are making
statements like a lunatic person,” said a senior metro rail official.



The statement from the official comes after Chennai Metro terminated
the contract with both Mosmetrostroy and Gammon. They were jointly
awarded the contract to construct stations at Govt Estate, LIC
building, Thousand light, Gemini, Teynampet, Chamiers road and
Saidapet along with twin bored tunnels covering a total length of over
6.4km.



"Just for Rs 50 to Rs 60 crore, they walked out of the project leaving
behind Rs 100 crore bank guarantee as well as Rs 100 crore of
equipment. They had all the provisions in the contract to go in for
adjudication or arbitration,” the official said.



But a Mosmetro India official said that Mosmetrostroy abandoned the
project due to pressure being put by the sub vendors to whom
Mosmetrostroy owned money. “They changed the alignment and we had to
dig further three metres deep. The soil below 13 metres was rocky one
and it affected our equipment and this resulted in cost escalation.
Chennai Metro did not incorporate the fluctuation in prices despite
changing the alignment,” said the official.



“Since the sub-vendors were threatening and putting lot of pressure
Mosmetrostroy walked out of project,” he said.



Interestingly, there was no news from Mosmetrostroy since it walked
out of the project. The issue came into prominence when Chennai Metro
Rail started taking control of the warehouse, owned by the
sub-contractor Mosmetro India. “This warehouse doesn’t belong to
Russian based company Mosmetrostroy. It belongs to Mosmetro India, to
whom it has sub-contracted the work,” the official said.



But Metro rail officials said since the company walked out of the
contract suddenly, it is their right to get hold of the equipment as
well as the bank guarantee.



“Equipment of whom. It does not belong to Mosmetrostroy Russia. It
belongs to the sub contractor Mosmetro India,” retorted the official
of Mosmetro India.



However, Metro Rail officials dismissed the claims. “Our concern is to
finish the work at the earliest,” said a Chennai Metro Rail official.



“Fresh tenders would be called in by the end of this month. The
project in the Anna Salai stretch could be finished by 2017,” he said.



He also said that the elevated stretch would be completed by the end
of this financial year and the underground stretch from Chennai Egmore
to Thirumangalam would be over by June next year.