Shivaji memorial project: ‘Conditions tweaked to favour one contractor’

Public works minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday said conditions of a tender floated for construction of Shivaji memorial in the Arabian Sea were revised to favour

Public works minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday said conditions of a tender floated for construction of Shivaji memorial in the Arabian Sea were revised to favour one contractor.

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Chavan was replying in the legislative Council to a question asked by NCP legislator Hemant Takle, about remarks made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the status of the project.

“Prima facie, it appears that a penalty to the contractor was not added in the tender to favour one contractor,” he said. He also said that conditions of the tender related to the cost of the project and scope of the work after bids were received were changed, vitiating the tendering process.

However, following remarks by some legislators in the Council that the previous government wanted to “do corruption under the project”, the Opposition objected, and the House was adjourned for 10 minutes.

In December 2019, it came to light that CAG had scrutinised the project earlier and had given a detailed report.

The report cited that the public works department had floated tenders without administrative approval, changed the scope of the work, altered technical specifications of the project, and re-adjusted its cost after bids were received.

In January 2018, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had directed the high-power committee under chief secretary Sumit Mullick to expedite work on the project and negotiate with the company on the cost of the project.

The company, at the time of the tendering process, had quoted ₹3,826 crore for the contract as against ₹2,500 crore estimated by the state government. After negotiations, the company was awarded the tender for ₹2,500 crore. However, it later came to light that the scope of the work was reduced by the state.

Chavan on Wednesday said, “Under the garb of negotiations, the cost of the project, and specifications of the project were changed. There is a difference of ₹500 crore to ₹1000 crore. I am not calling it a scam, as this will have to be examined in detail, to conclude if there was any corruption. However, tender conditions should not have been changed after bids were received. We will inspect if the previous government acted in haste and what was the motivation behind it….The government is keen on ensuring the Shivaji Memorial is made.”

Vinayak Mete, a legislator from Shiv Sangram Party, an ally of BJP who headed the government-appointed committee to build the memorial, said: “On February 25, the same question was asked in the legislative Assembly. The answer given by the government was different. Why has the government changed its answer now?”

To this, Chavan added that a review meeting with the respective officials taken on Tuesday evening shed light on the issue.

Mete, who is heading the project’s implementation, monitoring and coordination committee, had written a letter pointing to irregularities in September 2018. Chavan said, “Mete’s letter had pointed to irregularities, financially and technically. Many decisions on the project were taken without taking Mete’s committee into confidence.”

In response, Mete said, “I stand firm by my letter. The Cabinet approved more than ₹3,600 crore. Do you know that? Your officers have not given you correct information.” This came in response to Chavan’s statement that while the estimated cost of the project was ₹2,500 crore and GST, the cabinet approval for the project was ₹3,600 crore.

Opposition leader Pravin Darekar said, “Then CM Devendra Fadnavis got all approvals for the project. What has your government done to speed up the project?”