Financial bids for Nariman Point-Borivli waterway opened

The city's harried rail and road commuters are closer to seeing the dream of taking a mid-sea ride from Bandra to Versova a reality.

The city's harried rail and road commuters are closer to seeing the dream of taking a mid-sea ride from Bandra to Versova a reality. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation's (MSRDC) ambitious Rs 1200-crore Passenger Water Transport programme to link Nariman Point to Borivli has opened the financial bids for the project.

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The MSRDC's technical committee had given clearance to the technical bids, and the financial bids were opened on Wednesday.

“The bidder, Pratibha Industries, has quoted a period of 29 years for recovering his cost,” Sonia Sethi, managing director, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said. MSRDC had earlier postponed bidding twice on the request from 17 bidders who showed interest.

The original date for submission was April 14, which was postponed to May 31 and finally to June 21.

As HT reported in June, Pratibha Industries was the only bidder when the technical were openend.

The bid will have to be cleared first by the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure before work on the project starts. The bidder is a consortium led by Pratibha Industries Ltd, which will be provided technical support by Inai Kiara Sdn Bhd, Malaysia's premier dredging company.

MSRDC, in its internal analysis, had decided that it would take 33 years to recover the cost. Nearly 40 acres of land, which is necessary for the project to function, has been handed over by the Maharashtra Maritime Board to MSRDC.