R-Infra gets Jan deadline to start work on sea link

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which awarded the contract for construction of Worli Haji Ali Sea Link to Reliance Infrastructure last year, is thinking of scrapping the deal and building the 5.5km bridge on its own.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which awarded the contract for construction of Worli Haji Ali Sea Link to Reliance Infrastructure last year, is thinking of scrapping the deal and building the 5.5km bridge on its own.

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“The contract will be called off if work on the project does not begin by January,” MSRDC vice chairman and managing director Bipin Shrimali said on Friday. Construction work was to start earlier this year.

Reliance, on its part, has maintained that though it is ready, it cannot commence work until the MSRDC fulfills its promise of handing over 3.5 hectare land at Bandra for a casting yard, and the state government stands guarantor for the proposed Rs1,392 crore viability gap funding (VGF).

“The handing over of the casting yard land is not part of the agreement between us. Moreover, we have repeatedly told Reliance that we will pay the VGF, but they are still unwilling to start work,” Shrimali said.

The MSRDC has now suggested that it would like to execute the project on its own. “We will build on a cash contract basis. Instead of an eight-lane bridge, we will start with a four-lane one,” Shrimali said.