Scomi Engineering keen on staying on as Monorail operator

Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) wants to appoint a new operator for the Monorail, but the current operator — Malaysian-based firm Scomi Engineering — is allegedly not willing to exit. This means that Scomi, which has faced allegations of shoddy maintenance work — will continue to operate both phases of the project even after the commissioning of the second phase, between Wadala and Jacob Circle, by the year-end.

Throwing light on the MMRDA’s predicament, an official said, “Scomi has pointed out a legal loophole in the contract that was signed between us. Scomi has cited that it was appointed for operating the Monorail for three years after commissioning of the project. However, as there is no mention of what happens after commissioning of phase one or two, so Scomi has interpreted that it will operate for three years after commissioning of the second phase.”

The Monorail has been divided in two phases. The first phase is from Wadala to Chembur, which was commissioned in 2014 while the second phase is between Wadala and Jacob Circle, which is to be commissioned by year-end.

However, despite this MMRDA is positive about appointing a new operator and has floated bids for the same. Interestingly, even Scomi has bided for the project. Sanjay Khandare, additional metropolitan commsioner, MMRDA, said, “We will appoint a new operator in another year as Monorail involves a lot of technicalities when it comes to appointing a new operator.”

Meanwhile, Scomi Engineering did not reply to an email query till the time of going to the press.