A pre-bid meeting was held for pre-qualification of Visakhapatnam Metro Rail Project in public-private partnership here on Thursday.

The pre-bid meeting was meant to answer the queries raised by companies intending to participate in the pre-qualification.

A total of nine companies participated on Thursday’s meeting at VUDA Office, it is learnt.

The last date for submitting proposals for expression of interest/request for proposal for Visakhapatnam Metro called by Amaravatri Metro Rail Corporation (AMRC) is December 7.

The Visakhapatnam Metro is proposed on three corridors on a total of 42 km with the detailed project report prepared by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in 2015. However, it was revalidated as per the PPP norms by Urban Mass Transport Company (UMTC) in February, 2017.

In the PPP mode, about 50% funds will be provided by the Central and State governments and the remaining has to come from the agency taking up the work.

AMRC managing director N. Ramakrishna Reddy, Municipal Administration and Urban Development principal secretary Karikal Valaven, Joint Collector G. Srijana, Municipal Commissioner M. Hari Narayanan and VUDA Vice-Chairman P. Basanth Kumar, Visakhapatnam Metro executive engineer K.V.N. Ravi and consultants of UMTC participated in the meeting.

Among the companies that participated in the meeting were L&T, Tata, S&P, Adani, Siemens and Altsom.