Scomi aims for more monorail jobs

Scomi aims for more monorail jobs
By Marina Emmanuel
Published: 2008/10/22
BTimes

The company is preparing technical and financial proposals for Bangalore as well as looking at monorail systems for Patna and New Delhi

SCOMI Engineering Bhd, which won its first overseas job for a monorail system in Mumbai last week, is eyeing two more Indian cities for monorail projects worth RM4 billion over the next two years.Scomi Group Bhd's senior vice-president of group marketing, Kanesan Velupillai, said the company is looking at Bangalore in the state of Karnataka and Patna in Bihar.It is also believed to be looking at a monorail system for New Delhi."We are working concurrently in preparing technical and financial proposals for Bangalore.

"The technical proposal is expected to be submitted to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corp (which oversees the implementation of metros and monorails in Karnataka) by next week, while the financial proposal should be sent by the end of November," Kanesan told Business
Times.

According to Kanesan, Scomi was invited to work with Indian Railway Construction Co (Ircon) on a feasibility study for the implementation of a monorail system in Patna following the working visit of India's Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to Kuala Lumpur in May this year."The feasibility report should be ready by the middle of next year," Kanesan said.

Apart from the Indian subcontinent, Scomi has also set its sights on Nigeria.Kanesan said the company has sent an advance team to Nigeria to work on an accelerated implementation and execution plan for a monorail system in Lagos."The plan is to be completed and submitted by the end of November," he said.

Scomi's new-generation monorail, employing the Scomi Urban Transit Rail Applications technology, will be featured in all the overseas monorail projects.Each car can carry 142 passengers, and each train will have four to six cars.On the feasibility study Scomi is undertaking for a monorail system in Hanoi, Vietnam, Kanesan expects it to be completed by the end of next month. "The next phase for Vietnam will be to carry out a detailed project report for implementation," he said.