KUALA LUMPUR (June 11): The Mass Rapid Transit Line 3, or Circle Line project is finally taking off, with the project owner Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Bhd (MRT Corp) issuing a tender late last month for four packages — three main civil work packages and a Project Management Consultancy package.

With the price tag of RM50 billion, including interest and land acquisition costs, construction companies are drooling over the MRT3. However, unlike the previous two lines of the Klang Valley MRT project, the Circle Line comes with its own unique challenges.

And these challenges could shrink the pool of eligible contractors that qualify to bid for the main construction packages, compared with the previous two MRT lines.

For starters, MRT Corp requires potential bidders to have sufficient funds to finance the project for at least the first two years. According to sources, the winning bidder will have to set aside 10% of the value of the package that they win to fund the first two years of construction.

For a package that is estimated to be valued at around RM14 billion, the winning bidder will have to put aside at least RM1.4 billion to fund the construction works. This is a huge undertaking for most construction companies, except for a select few.

Is the MRT3 project only reserved for the big boys of the construction industry?

In another story, we look at the potential beneficiaries of MRT3, from construction players to property developers.

Read about these and more in The Edge Malaysia weekly’s June 13, 2022 edition.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.