French engineering and design company Egis Group, as a part of a Hong Kong-based AECOM Asia-led consortium, has won the bid from the Mumbai Metro Rail Corp. as general consultants for implementation of Mumbai’s fully underground, 32.50-kilometer-long Metro Line 3 project, with 27 stations, on May 15. Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) will provide $2.08 billion as a grant for the project. The partners include Japan-based Padeco and U.S.-based LBG Inc.
Egis Chairman and CEO Nicolas Jachiet recently met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in France and came away convinced that India is open for business. “What we heard was a string of commitments to promote investment in India,” he told ENR. During the visit, French firms committed to an agreement that covers three of the 100 smart cities for which France has committed to invest 2 billion Euros. Development funds cover “Pondicherry and Nagpur,” French President Francois Hollande announced in April. “We will try to be part of the program. … [We can expect] competition from French companies or others, even if the French [are] financing,” Jachiet said.
Moving forward, Egis will stress innovation by providing high-value engineering, Jachiet said. “Because we are [making] big efforts and the Indian market is growing with huge needs for transport and water, we are committed to bringing in technology. … An important strategy for us is to bring together the best of expertise in urban planning, transport, waste management, buildings [and] water supply, using building information modeling to design the city of the future in India.”
Jachiet added Egis would be responding to future requests for proposals for smart cities in India. “It is good to see India is committed,” he said.