Chambal River intake well tender in Dholpur, Rajasthan

Rajasthan PHED has invited bids worth ₹1,222.86 crore for an intake well inside the Chambal River at Dholpur, with its approach bridge and treatment works, and bidding closes on 16 September 2026.

This is Package 1 of the Chambal drinking water project under the Jal Jeevan Mission. The scope runs from the river outward: the intake well itself, an approach bridge out to it, a raw water reservoir with its inlet and outlet system, a water treatment plant, a clear water reservoir and a raw water pump house.

An intake well is a bridge job as much as a water job

Building a well inside a live river is heavy structural work. The well has to be sunk in the riverbed, and the approach bridge that carries the pipeline and access to it is a real structure with foundations of its own. That is why this reads as a bridges and structures package on the notice even though it sits under a drinking water scheme.

The Chambal runs deep and fast in season, so the sinking work is bound by the dry window. Contractors who have done well foundations know that a well which stops sinking mid-way is one of the hardest problems in Indian civil work to recover from, and the programme has to be built around finishing that stage cleanly.

What the money looks like

Earnest money is ₹24,45,72,584, exactly two per cent of the estimate, and the notice records that exemption is allowed. If you hold a valid exemption certificate with PHED, that changes the entry cost on a ₹1,223 crore contract considerably. The tender fee is ₹1,18,000, and the contract is on a percentage rate basis across three covers with 120-day bid validity.

This tender has been running a long time. It was first invited in April 2025 and has been extended by nine corrigenda since. Read the latest one rather than the original notice.

Who this suits

The natural bidders are firms that combine water infrastructure experience with river structure capability, and PHED’s own bidding history for this circle is dominated by that mix. A treatment plant contractor without well sinking experience would need a partner, and the reverse is equally true.

For plant owners across Dholpur, Bharatpur and Karauli this is worth tracking because the earthwork and concrete demand runs for years and sits close to two other large PHED packages already awarded in the same districts.

Plant this package runs

Foundations lead. Piling rigs and cranes go in for the approach bridge and the well steining, with cranes handling reinforcement cages and shuttering over water. Concrete has to arrive continuously for the well and the bridge piers, so batching capacity and transit mixers are sized with spare margin rather than to average demand.

Away from the river the work is ordinary but large. Excavators open the reservoir and treatment plant footprints and the pipeline trenches, tippers move the spoil, and soil compactors and rollers build up the embankments and the plant platform. Backhoe loaders handle the chamber and drain work that runs alongside everything else.

Key facts

How to apply

1. Open the official portal: Rajasthan e-Procurement, via the Central Public Procurement Portal.
2. Search by tender ID 2025_PHCJ_463291_1 (reference no. 04/2024-25) under PHED Chief Engineer SP and EAP, Jaipur.
3. Register on the portal and keep a valid Class III digital signature certificate ready.
4. Download the tender document and the BOQ, and check the well and bridge foundation details, the eligibility criteria and whether your EMD exemption applies before you price.
5. Submit your bid online before 16 September 2026.

More on DesiMachines

Two more Rajasthan water packages are open in the same districts: the Dholpur water treatment plant and clear water reservoir tender and the Bharatpur retrofitting package under the Chambal project. There are more live tenders in Rajasthan, and all live tenders are listed by closing date.

If you hire plant to water infrastructure contractors, our crane, excavator and concrete mixer pages cover the machines this work depends on, and equipment finance sets out the loan and lease options.

FAQ

Tender details are summarised for convenience and may change. Always verify the latest dates, terms and documents on the official tendering portal before bidding. DesiMachines is not responsible for changes made by the issuing authority.