PMC chief scraps tender process of Pune’s river rejuvenation project

The opposition parties took objection against the tender process as the bidders had quoted a high cost and inflated the tender cost by almost 23 to 50 per cent

Municipal commissioner Saurabh Rao on Saturday scrapped the tender process for the river rejuvenation project which was being executed with the help of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The total project cost is ₹1,000 crore. (HT/PHOTO)

The opposition parties took objection against the tender process as the bidders had quoted a high cost and inflated the tender cost by almost 23 to 50 per cent than the estimated cost of the project.

The total project cost is ₹1,000 crore and PMC floated tenders for works up to ₹400 crore, mainly related to sewage treatment plants.

Opposition party leader in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Dilip Barate wrote a letter to the municipal commissioner last week and demanded scrapping of the tender process . Barate alleged that the bidders intentionally inflated the tender cost.

Even Congress leader Arvind Shinde had objected to the tendering process and said, “Like the 24x7 water project, this time also the bidders intentionally quoted a higher cost.”

Barate welcomed the municipal commissioner’s decision to scrap the tender process and said, “There should be more transparency while carrying out the re-tendering process.”