GMDA invites re-bids for six projects in one month, delays infrastructure projects in city

In the past one month, the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has reinvited bids for at least six projects due to various reasons, but primarily because the costs quoted by the contractors were very high, said officials in the know of the matter on Monday

In the past one month, the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has reinvited bids for at least six projects due to various reasons, but primarily because the costs quoted by the contractors were very high, said officials in the know of the matter on Monday.

Gurugram, India-February 04: Construction work for a flyover at old Delhi-Gurugram road near Atul Kataria chowk, in Gurugram, India, on Tuesday, February 04, 2020. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times) **To go with Prayag Arora’s story

Some of the projects for which tenders have been reinvited include construction of a master dividing road of Sector 82/82A (missing link), construction of master road and road side drain in Sector 70A (outer), construction of RCC box drain for road crossing at Iffco Chowk (NH-48) Gurugram and all other work contingent thereto, construction of RCC box type culvert at Saraswati Vihar in Sector -53, desilting of master storm water drain from sector dividing road 43/44 along Sector 44, among other projects.

“For some projects, we did not get the right contractors or we received just one or two bids, but primarily, the cost quoted for these projects were way too high. We cannot hire contractors as we have a fixed amount for carrying out each project. Hence, the tenders are being re-invited. While planning any project, we estimate a time loss of around two months for such situations. We are trying to speed up the process so that the projects can be started at the earliest and there is no further delay,” said Sudhir Rajpal, CEO of GMDA.

In the past few weeks, tenders have already been invited twice for some of these projects, such as the construction of RCC box drain or construction of master roads in the new sectors.

“We put the details of the tender on our website, but now we are trying to engage our resources in such a manner so that we can reduce the time lost and projects can start as per the fixed timeline. We are working on reaching out to the right contractors fit for undertaking the projects through different platforms and engaging active citizens with contacts in different industries to expedite infrastructure development works in the city,” said a senior official who did not wish to be named.

In September last year, the GMDA faced a similar situation for a road construction project from Rampura Chowk to Pataudi Road on NH-48. The authorities had then said that they focused on reaching out to the right contractors. Work on the project started in February this year.