Construction of bus depot in Gurugram sector 48 delayed as bids get rejected

According to official documents on the GMDA website, the bidders failed to submit certain mandatory documents, when the tenders were opened in December.

Construction of a new bus depot in Sector 48 has been further delayed after the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), last week, rejected the financial bids of seven private companies, which responded to the its tenders for development of the plot.

Construction of bus depot in Gurugram sector 48 delayed as bids get rejected. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

An official in the GMDA’s mobility division confirmed that tenders would be reopened, but did not specify when.

According to official documents on the GMDA website, the bidders failed to submit certain mandatory documents, when the tenders were opened in December.

A five-member tender committee pointed out that private contractors might not be familiar with the authority’s approach of submitting tenders online and that it could organise pre-bid meetings and tutorials to ensure smoother execution of the tendering process.

The bus depot is one of the four depots announced by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in July last year. The land for these depots, in sectors 10, 53, 48 and 72, was transferred to the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) in June last year, by the state cabinet.

Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) CEO Chander Shekhar Khare had said last year that these depots would become operational by August 2018.

The GMCBL chief could not be contacted Friday for comment despited repeated attempts.

GMCBL general manager Arun Sharma assured that the delay would not affect the functioning of the bus service.

“At the moment, we do not have more than 100 operational buses, all of which are being housed at the Sector 10 bus stand. There is also another depot under construction in Sector 53. The delay in constructing the remaining three depots will not impact the operations,” he said, adding that all the bus stands would become operational in time for the launch of the GMCBL’s future routes.