Soma to build stations on Cent Sec-Qutub sec

New Delhi, Jan 31 (UNI) A leading infrastructure development company of India has bagged a contract for construction of tunnels and stations on the Central Secretariat-Qutub Minar corridor under phase II of the Delhi Metro rail.

Work for design and construction of four stations - at Race Course, Jor Bagh, INA and AIIMS - between Udyog Bhawan and Green Park stations on the corridor has been assigned to a joint venture comprising Soma Enterprises Ltd, a leading infrastructure development company in India, and Continental Engineering Corporation (CEC), one of the leading construction companies of Taiwan.

The work on the 5250-m-long stretch between Udyog Bhawan and Green Park, to be carried out at a cost of Rs 813.51 crore, involves construction of twin channels (4014 m in length and 5.6 in diameter) and four stations each 318-m-long, director of the Soma Enterprise Ltd Ankineedu Maganti told mediapersons here today.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Maganti said, ''a unique feature of the underground stations constructed on the section will be that unlike the stations on the Central Secretariat-Vishvidyalaya section, the stations on the Central Secretariat-Qutub Minar corridor will be more spacious. This is because there will be no column in between each of the twin tunnels as is the case at present.'' Mr Maganti said an agreement for the construction of the stations, to be built over a period of 40 months, was signed with the DMRC on Monday.

''We are waiting for a letter from the DMRC. Construction work on the stretch is expected to begin sometime next month,''he said.

''The Delhi Metro Project is one of the most pestigious urban infrastructural projects in the country and we are proud to have made our debut in the space. We feel that our strong project management capabilities in India, coupled with CEC's expertise and international experience in design and construction of large scale infrastructural projects, will produce a state-of-the-art structure,''he said.

Speaking on the occasion, the assistant vice president of the CEC overseas department, P C Tseng said, ''we are elated to have tied up with one of India's leading infrastructure developer Soma Enterprise and bagged one of the most significant infrastructural projects in India. We have successfully executed similar rail projects in Taiwan, including the longest tunnel on the Taiwan High Speed Rail and have to our credit many other infrastructural projects.'' UNI