Maha dumps firm that won CCTV network contract

The Maharashtra government has initiated criminal action against the contractor who was awarded the Rs699-crore project to install the CCTV surveillance network in Mumbai over failure to deliver.

The state government has initiated criminal action against the contractor who was awarded the Rs699-crore project to install the CCTV surveillance network in Mumbai over failure to deliver.

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Apart from confiscating his earnest money of Rs1crore, the government has also blacklisted him from government contracts in future.

The home department, early this year, had given Sai Infotech Systems (SIS) the Rs699.5-crore contract to install CCTV surveillance in the city.

However, the company failed to deposit the bank guarantee withing the stipulated period. Also, a cheque of Rs10crore towards the interim bank guarantee bounced on June 12, 2013, after which a high-power committee (HPC) led by chief secretary JK Banthia decided to scrap the contract.

At a meeting held on Tuesday the HPC decided to forfeit Rs1crore deposited by the company as earnest money and take criminal action against it.

“The home department has been directed to take action. We have also blacklisted the company. A notification will be issued and all state governments in the country will be informed about the action.

Sai Infotech Systems, that won the Rs699.5-crore contract to install the CCTV surveillance network in the city early this year, failed to deposit the bank guarantee within the stipulated period and a cheque of Rs10crore it issued bounced in June.

The CCTV surveillance network project had been announced soon after the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.

The HPC also initiated negotiations with the second lowest bidder AGC, an Essar Group company, whose bid was of Rs1,051crore.

The government intends to negotiate with AGC to bring him closer to the contract awarded to the SIS. “Our endeavour will be to bring it close to the amount the contract was awarded for.

After all it is public money and we are bound to utilise it with utter caution,” he said.

According to an official from the home department, if the HPC failed to negotiate with AGC, the home department would have no option but to go for re-bidding.

“The contract, which was to be implemented over the next five years, had many add-ons to the actual network of 6,000 CCTV cameras. It is likely to shed a couple of additional frills to make it viable,” he said.