It is understood that the target cost for the 51km line will be revealed only by year-end, after all 90 tender packages have been awarded.
The target cost is the aggregate of all tenders given out, plus reimbursables capped at RM2.8 billion and a contingency amount capped at six per cent of the total tender value.
MMC-Gamuda is only entitled to the full fee if the project's eventual total cost is equal to or less than the target cost, failing which the consortium's payment shall be reduced in accordance with an agreed upon formula.
MRT Corp also said it will disclose the estimated cost of the SBK line in a week of two, following the formalisation of its partnership with MMC-Gamuda and the appointment of HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd and SNC-Lavalin Sdn Bhd as independent checking engineer (ICE) here today.
MRT Corp chief executive Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid, however, stressed that the soon-to-be announced estimated cost should not be confused with the target cost.
"What we're going to do after the signing of all these agreements, we're going to announce an estimate amount that isn't tantamount to the number that will bear reference in the agreement that we have just signed.
"It's only an estimate because we'll only know the full tender value of all jobs after they have been awarded," he said.
Azhar also revealed that the financing for the SBK line had been finalised and that the project would be fully financed by the capital market, but declined to provide details.
"I'm not going to give you the details because this is being arranged by the Ministry of Finance through its subsidiary, Dana Infra," he said.
"So the best people to give you details of the funding of the project would be the Ministry of Finance... I think it'll be sukuk, from what I know."
The KVMRT, meant to ease traffic congestion in the Klang Valley, is Malaysia's largest and most expensive infrastructure project to date.
Construction of the KVMRT SBK line will begin in the second or third quarter of next year and is scheduled to be completed by end-2016, with services commencing in January 2017.
The SBK line will cover a distance of 51km, of which 9.5km - including seven of the 31 stations - will be underground.
Business Times reported yesterday that MMC-Gamuda is likely the frontrunner for tunnelling works worth an estimated RM8 billion after submitting the lowest bid for the job.
Critics have said MMC-Gamuda, a joint venture between leading infrastructure group Gamuda Bhd and MMC Corp Bhd, would have the edge over other bidders in bagging the prized tunnelling portion for the KVMRT due to its role as project delivery partner.
Gamuda-MMC is also the contractor for the RM12.5 billion electrified double-tracking Ipoh-Padang Besar rail project.
