ByIntroduction: Underwater diving services are very essential for marine construction which requires deep diving. The government agencies in India often look for underwater diving services for various purposes. For the maintenance of public properties like bridges, hydro mechanical gates, cleaning of pipelines and etc. These underwater inspections are very important for the quality analysis and repairing. The recent leap that India took on underwater transportation with the first underwater metro route in Kolkata provides an idea of the importance and the allocation of a large amount in the underwater diving services. The government agencies hire well-efficient and trusted firms for underwater diving services through tender bidding procedure.
Yearly Analysis of Underwater Diving Tenders: Last year, the government agencies in India advertised a total number of 144 tenders for underwater diving services along with 1 international tender. Among these 144 tenders, Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of tenders at 23 tenders for underwater diving services. Madhya Pradesh ranked second in the list by advertising 22 tenders for underwater diving services. These 144 tenders were published by 54 government agencies across the country. Two of the most notable agencies were Krishnapatnam Railway Company Limited (KRCL) and NHDC Ltd. These two agencies published 17 and 14 tenders for underwater diving services respectively. The international tender was published by the Indian Air Force for RFP to conduct scuba dive master course.
Tenders for Damage Assessment and Maintenance: There are many bridges, dams or other public properties that need maintenance. To find out the exact part that needs maintenance and to get the repairing job done, the government agencies look for underwater diving services. During the last year, the government agencies in India advertised 14 tenders for underwater diving services for damage assessment and maintenance. For example, KRCL and Southern Railway in Karnataka published tenders to repair the underwater defects identified in bridges under SEN/ MAO section. The RDD-CEO-NASHIK in Maharashtra advertised 3 tenders for underwater supply management, maintenance and repair unit. Besides these, Narmada Water Resources in Gujarat published 2 tenders for underwater diving services for desilting, repairing, maintenance, servicing and strengthening of Bypass outlet gates of Kadana Dam.
Tenders for Inspection Purpose: For the damage assessment and checking the ability of the particular object, the government agencies in India funds underwater diving services. During the previous year, a total number of 43 tender were published by the government agencies in India looking for underwater diving services for inspection purpose. For example, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited in Gujarat published a tender for the inspection of basin surface area in the underwater condition by ROV/ Diver for checking the health of the concrete surface area with latest technological equipment and creation of a detailed report Sardar Sarovar (N) Dam. Also, The North Central Railway advertised a tender in Odisha for the underwater inspection by Remote Operated Robotic Vehicle (RORV) of a few bridges in sections of Jhansi Division of North Central Railway. Apart from these, NHDC Ltd. in Madhya Pradesh advertised 14 tenders for hiring the services of divers for underwater inspection of vents of various hydro mechanical gates and other locations of Indira Sagar Power Station.
Contract Value of Underwater Diving Tenders: The estimated contact value of the underwater diving tenders was not published most of the government agencies. However, in a few cases it was published. Those are analysed here to give an idea of the expenditure of the opportunities. The estimated value of the projects for underwater diving services widely varied. Most projects were in the average budget range of Rs. 1 – 20 lakhs. For example, Telangana Power Generation Corporation Limited released a tender for diving team services with the estimated budget of Rs. 12.71 lakhs. Also, Southern Railway in Kerala advertised a tender for underwater inspection (swim by) of substructure of different major bridges in Palakkad division for the year 2022-2023, which was worth of around Rs. 4.71 lakhs. But there were a few tenders that costed in crores of rupees as well. Such as, the tender published by Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited in Gujarat had the estimated value of Rs. 1.47 crore, which was the highest budget for underwater diving tenders in last year. Also, the two tenders published by Narmada Water Resources in Gujarat had the estimated budget of Rs. 1.46 crore. Apart from these, there were many other projects with a high estimated value. Another tender advertised by Narmada Water Resources in Gujarat for providing underwater diving services for lowering stoplog gates to arrest leakages and replacing rubber seals of radial gate on main spillway of Ukai dam, which costed around Rs. 99.28 lakhs. Starting from a few thousands, the estimated budget for underwater diving tenders went up to crores. Hence, the range of these opportunities are quite huge.
Live Tender Analysis: As of May 8, 2024, there were a total number of 4 live tenders for underwater diving services, as per shown in the graph below. These 4 live tenders were published by 4 different states. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh were the 4 states that published these 4 live tenders for the underwater diving services. Until May 12, 2024, the State government agencies and the Public Sector Undertakings published Underwater Diving Services tenders and Underwater Inspection tenders.
Conclusion: The above analysis shows that the government agencies in India are taking a huge effort for urbanization. Underwater diving service is a part of that. For public safety the bridges and dams require quality assessment. Also, for marine research and different medical and educational purposes, underwater diving services become very important. In the upcoming years as well the profitable demand for underwater diving services will only increase. This opens up a grand opportunity for the private firms who provide underwater diving services. The firms with proper expertise and experience are hereby advised to keep an eye on these opportunities, and try their best to win them. Thus, the government along with the support of the private sectors can provide the best service to the citizen of the country.
