With only one firm participating in the re-tendering work of the Polavaram contract for hydel power plant and main concrete works, the Andhra Pradesh government is likely to award the contract to Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL).
The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday claimed that it saved Rs 780 crore public money through re-tendering of Polavaram project work, claiming that MEIL had come up with a proposal quoting a price that was 12.6% lower than the previous contractor, Navayuga Engineering Company Limited.
MEIL has also been involved in the execution of the Kaleshwaram irrigation project in Telangana.
The state government had called for re-tender of projects worth Rs 4,987 crore in the Polavaram project, with MEIL bidding for Rs 4,359 crore, resulting in savings worth Rs 628 crore. With additional savings of Rs 152 crore in Part B of the hydel project, the government claims that the savings will add up to Rs 780 crore.
While the state government said that it is likely to go ahead and grant the project to MEIL, the chief engineer of the Polavaram project told the water resource department that to conduct the reverse tendering process, at least two bidders were required. As only one bidder participated, there was no provision for initiating the reverse tendering process.
Last week, the state government had announced that nearly Rs 58 crore had been saved from the first reverse tendering of one package of the Polavaram project, with the firm Max Infra (I) Ltd bagging the contract.
After winning a massive mandate in the Assembly elections, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy of the YSRCP had alleged that major scams had taken place in projects across the state during the TDP’s term.
Jagan had announced that the contracts in the Polavaram project would be cancelled due to alleged irregularities, and called for ‘reverse tenders’, where more bidders would be encouraged to participate and the lowest bidder would be awarded the contract.
The YSRCP government had issued the notification for reverse tendering in the project last month, on August 17.
The decision was taken despite the advice of the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA). Union Minister for Jal Shakti had also said that cancelling Navayuga’s Polavaram contract would be detrimental to the project.
The TDP has now in turn alleged that the YSRCP has shown unfair preference while awarding the contract, with TDP chief and former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu calling the process ‘reserve tendering’ and not reverse tendering.
Earlier in August, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had suspended the cancellation of Navayuga's Hydel Power Project contract, in response to a petition filed by Navayuga.
The Centre is funding the Rs 58,000 crore Polavaram project, which is being built across the Godavari river. It was declared a national project under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.