EIL favourite in Oil India tender
Engineers India is the frontrunner for Oil India's 3.5-year project consultant services contract for micro-tunnelling on two old cross-country pipelines.
When Oil India opened price bids in mid-August 2024, Engineers India quoted Rs8.21cr ($980,000), while sole competitor Mecon quoted Rs8.26cr ($986,000). Oil India invited offers on April 30 (2024) with a May 29 (2024) deadline, which it extended until July 31 (2024) when it opened technical bids.
"Engineers India and Mecon successfully cleared the technical round," says an Oil India source. Oil India wants the micro-tunnelling work for the 1157-km crude oil pipeline from Naharkatiya near Duliajan in Assam to Barauni in Bihar and the 654-km pipeline from Numaligarh in Assam to Siliguri in West Bengal.
Whoever wins must convert above-ground and open-cut river crossings to submerged crossings through micro-tunnelling work across seven Assam and West Bengal rivers. An open-cut river crossing involves digging an open trench in the river bottom.
"The submerged crossings of the pipelines across several rivers were done by open cut method," reads the tender document. "Out of all these rivers, in the recent past, Oil India has experienced pipeline washout because of reduced soil cover over the pipelines caused by river scouring (sediment removal) and other environmental factors."
Whoever wins must provide services for basic design, engineering, and tendering. They must also review and approve the EPC contractor's detailed engineering and handle construction management and commissioning.
Oil India has begun work on five micro tunnels at five rivers: Champabati in Assam and Raidak-II, Dimdima, Mujnai and Gathia in West Bengal. For the next phase, Oil India has finalised seven river crossings with a cumulative length of 2800 metres and has completed a geo-tech survey collecting characteristics of soil and rocks.
Oil India's pipeline department operates 1860-km of pipeline comprising 1206-km of oil and 654-km of product pipeline.