The Mexican government has revoked an uncontested contract awarded to a Chinese-led consortium to build a multibillion-dollar high-speed passenger rail link in Mexico in the wake of an outcry from lawmakers, Reuters news service said Friday.
A new tender for the project to construct a 210-kilometer link between Mexico City and Queretaro will be run in late November and remain open for six months to draw potential bidders, the report said.
Opposition politicians accused the government of favoring the consortium, led by China Railway Construction Corp., and rival companies cited a limited bid window, according to the report.
Mexico only gave a two-month notice for the initial bid, said The People's Daily, China's official newspaper.
"The bidding was legitimate," China's Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a statement from the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transportation. The decision to scrap the deal was aimed at expelling any public doubts on the project, according to the statement.