KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — MRT Corp has denied claims of a lukewarm response to an open tender for a train supply deal, saying six companies will be bidding for the RM1.85 billion contract.

The Edge Financial Daily reported yesterday that only one company, CSR ZhuZhou Electric Locomotive Co Ltd., had submitted a bid to MRT Corp to supply 58 sets of four-car electric train for Malaysia’s flagship infrastructure project that could cost up to RM50 billion.

But the project owner refuted the Edge report. Six shortlisted companies had expressed interest, it said. They included CSR ZhuZhou.

According to StarBiz, MRT Corp admitted it had yet to receive any bids.

MRT Corp chief executive Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said the deadline for the tender had been extended by four weeks from last Sunday to June 11. He said four companies including CSR ZhuZhou had asked for the extension of the deadline.

“Originally, the tendering period was supposed to close yesterday, but as the pre-qualified companies for the supply of trains had sent a lot of clarification questions on the bidding requirements, we have on April 26 issued a letter of extension,” he told StarBiz yesterday.

The five other pre-qualified companies are Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd, a Bombardier-Scomi consortium, Changchun Railways Vehicles Co Ltd, Siemens AG, and Hyundai Rotem Co/CMC Engineering.

The Edge reported yesterday that industry executives had alleged that the MRT specifications gave CSR ZhuZhou an edge, despite the Chinese company being a “last-minute addition”.

It reported that the high cost of tendering with slim chances of success might discourage companies from bidding.

“For us, business is business,” StarBiz quoted Azhar as saying, indicating that MRT Corp would conduct the tender in a transparent manner. “We will award the contract to the best bid based on our evaluation process and due diligence.”

CSR ZhuZhou recently won a RM530 million contract to supply 20 sets of six-car trains for the extension to the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Ampang line. Its bid was reported to be the lowest.

The company also won a RM1.89 billion contract to provide 38 sets of six-car trains for the KTM commuter service.