Five Indian contractors shortlisted for Blantyre’s multimillion-dollar water project

By Saidi Winnes

India’s Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank), which is the financier for the Phase 1 Construction of a New Water Source for Blantyre Water Board on Shire River and Associated Infrastructure Project, has shortlisted five Indian construction companies to bid for the project.

The prequalified companies include Afcons Infrastructure Ltd; Larsen & Toubro Ltd; Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd; NCC Ltd, and JV of SMS Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. & Suez India Pvt. Ltd.

Blantyre Water Board (BWB) says in a statement that EXIM Bank has prequalified the five contractors out of the 10 applicants for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction of the New Water Source Project, which will be financed using proceeds of a US$216.68-million line of credit from the Indian Government for Malawi’s Drinking Water Supply Schemes and Other Development Projects.

It says the shortlisted companies were the ones whose applications adhered to the pre-qualification criteria, which was prepared by the Government of Malawi.

The statement reads: “These companies were examined and verified for both completeness of their submissions and adherence of their applications to the Pre-Qualification criteria that was prepared by the Government of Malawi (GoM). Based on this evaluation exercise, the Bank shortlisted five contractors for the Project.”

The Water Board has since assured the public that the whole procurement process for EPC contractors for the project will follow International Competitive Bidding procedures specified in Government of the Republic of Malawi’s Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act of 2017, in order to ensure that relevant principles of construction procurement such as transparency, accountability, ethics, competition and value for money are satisfied for successful delivery of the project.

The overall objective of Blantyre Water Board’s New Water Source on Shire River and Associated Infrastructure project is to increase water production capacity to keep pace with the growing demand for water in the city projected at 230,000 m3 per day by the year 2040.

The components that will be executed under phase 1 are as follows: Intake works; Raw water pumping; Raw water transmission works; Water treatment works expansion; Clear water pumping works; Transmission from Walkers Ferry to Chileka and Supply of portable water to villages and public institutions along the transmission main route.