After having it's winning bid revoked, a Chinese-led consortium is planning on bidding again for a $3.75 billion contract to construct a high-speed rail link in Mexico, reports Reuters.

Last month, the Mexican government awarded the project to a consortium of Chinese and Mexican companies. The consortium was led by China Railway Construction Corp. (CRCC), and included China Railway International Group, China Railway Construction Corp. (Mexico) and CSR Corp.

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However, that was soon rescinded due to public outcry over the fact that the consortium was the sole bidder; opposition lawmakers claimed the bidding was fixed. Mexican media reported that Grupo Higa, one of the Mexican firms in the consortium owned a $7 million house that the Mexican president's wife was in the process of acquiring. She said she would give up the house.

"Whether we will continue to bid with CRCC, that's a definite yes," an official from CSR's publicity department told Reuters. The official would not say whether the Mexican partners would remain in the consortium, but said "small adjustments made to consortiums are very normal."

While the Mexican government insisted that the bidding was legitimate, President Enrique Pena Nieto decided to cancel the deal to quell public concerns over the lack of competing bids.

"The process being canceled had always been done at the proper time and adhered to legal terms," said the Ministry of Communications. "But the president is sensitive to the fact that such an important project with such high benefit for society not raise any doubt."

The Ministry of Communications said it would hold a new auction for the multi-billion dollar project so that prospective train manufacturers have enough time to make proposals.

The project, which is expected to take five years to complete, calls for the building of high-speed passenger trains, and a 210-kilometer line (130 miles) linking the capital Mexico City and the central Mexican city of Queretaro. 

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