Bid of 2018 for Dharavi Redevelopment was more than current offer by bidder: Seclink affidavit

Mumbai: Seclink Technologies Corporation (STC) which had been a successful bidder in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project in 2019 has stated in its affidavit that the award in the fresh tender has caused a loss of around ₹2,100 crore to the state exchequer

Mumbai: Seclink Technologies Corporation (STC) which had been a successful bidder in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project in 2019 has stated in its affidavit that the award in the fresh tender has caused a loss of around ₹2,100 crore to the state exchequer.

HT Image

The firm filed the affidavit in rejoinder to the state’s response which claimed that fresh tendering was done in the public interest.

The firm has claimed that while the 2018 tender did not have the railway land, it had made a bid of ₹7,200 crore which was the highest, however even after the inclusion of the railway land, the 2022 tender was awarded to the second-highest bidder in the 2018 tendering process which is of around ₹5,069 crore, hence the tender of 2022 and its subsequent award should be set quashed.

The affidavit filed by Nilang Shah, chairman and managing director of STC in his affidavit filed on February 23 has refuted the claim by the state government in its affidavit that the petition filed by the firm in 2020 was pertaining to the cancellation of the firm’s bid in 2019 and hence the challenge to the October 2022 tender floated by the state government could not be dealt with in that petition. Shah has stated that in December 2022 the HC had permitted the firm to amend the petition to include the new challenge.

The firm has stated that in the old tender, it had bid ₹7,200 crore and the second highest bid was ₹4,521 crore and hence was declared as the successful bidder. However, after additional railway land came to be added to the project its bid was cancelled. The affidavit states that the cancellation had caused it huge losses as the firm had taken loans of up to ₹28,000 crore as a security deposit for the project and was incurring interest even now.

The affidavit states that the changes in the October 2022 tender conditions which the state government stated were done in the public interest were only meant to oust it and favour the second-highest bidder in the previous tender. The affidavit states that the subsequent award of the project for ₹ 5069 crore as per the new tender could not be in the public interest as the state still lost nearly ₹2,100 crore.

Referring to the conditions added in the new tender, the affidavit states that the clause of the lead member of the bidding consortium to have a 51% share in the special purpose project (SPV) and the member with technical eligibility having a 26% share in the SPV were solely intended to oust the firm and favour the second highest bidder in the old tender.

In light of the above averments, the affidavit states that the contentions of the state government for dismissal of the firm’s petition should not be allowed and the HC should hear the petition.