After terminating the contract of Malaysia-based Scomi Engineering for 'non-performance', the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has initiated informal talks with Scomi to procure spare parts for Mumbai Monorail. Sources from MMRDA said that several vendors agreed to supply spares but are reluctant as they are still dealing with Scomi. An MMRDA source said that many vendors are reluctant as they have some sort of arrangement that spare parts relating to Monorail can only be supplied by Scomi. "Hence, officials have initiated informal talks with Scomi to procure the spare parts," said the source. The additional spare parts will help smooth functioning of the four trains that are operational. It will also help repair the remaining six trains and make them operational. This will help in bringing down the frequency from the current 22 minutes to 45 minutes when two out of the four trains are sent for routine maintenance. Ever since the monorail became fully operational last month, MMRDA has been struggling for procurement of spare parts. On Wednesday, operations were halted twice due to technical glitches. The MMRDA source added, "We have information that Scomi has some spare parts available with them in Malaysia. We have initiated informal talks with them." In the last one month, the monorail has carried seven lakh passengers. However, MMRDA has not released details of trains that were cancelled or delayed in the first month due to technical glitches. Apart from aiming to repair six defunct trains, MMRDA has also floated bids to procure 10 trains. Three companies have shown interest in the bid. The Mumbai Monorail project for which construction started in 2008 by a consortium of L&T and Scomi Engineering has been in news ever since its partial operations between Chembur and Wadala started in 2014. It got fully operational between Chembur and Mahalaxmi earlier this month. The MMRDA has spent around Rs 3,000 crore but has still not been able to run it efficiently. DNA had earlier on April 08, 2019 reported as to how Larsen & Toubro along with Malaysian Scomi Engineering (LTSE) had warned MMRDA that by terminating their contract and taking over commercial operations of Mumbai Monorail, they have put the safety of public and the overall system at high risk.

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