HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Government on Friday informed the Hyderabad High Court that a decision has been taken to reveal the revenue share offered by the Original Project Proponent for development of 6.84 square km start-up area in Amaravati capital city on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode under Swiss Challenge method.
In this regard, Andhra Pradesh advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas placed a memo before Justice M S Ramachandra Rao when the petition filed by Aditya Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation challenging the technical eligibility criteria and bid submission period given in the Request for Proposal (RFP) came up for hearing. Dramatic scenes were witnessed throughout the day.
The petitioner company sought disclosure of details submitted by the foreign company so that it can also apply for the same.
It found fault with the authorities to award the construction works of seed capital in Amaravati to Singapore firms under the Swiss Challenge method.
The AG submitted that CRDA authorities have decided to reveal details of revenue sharing offered by the Singapore Consortium to the eligible bidders only and also working out details of procedure to take the issue forward and that they, if necessary, would issue notification/corrigendum in due course.
He urged the court to adjourn the case for Tuesday so that he would be in a position to inform the court about the possible timelines and other details which may be adopted by the authorities for the project.
The judge then pointed out that it was not proper for the State to seek time when the case was posted today for orders.
Senior counsel D Prakash Reddy, appearing for the petitioner, pointed out that any changes cannot be made once a notification is issued and a fresh notification has to be issued by nullifying the earlier notification.
The court has to look into the reasons behind the bidding process and the eligibility criteria prescribed. It also has to look into the non-transparent approach of the authorities in finalising the bid in a whimsical manner.
As the last date for submission of bids is September 1, the State Government has to give sufficient time to the petitioner company to offer its proposal, he added. Reacting to the contentions of the senior counsel, the AG said the government will give time to all the competitive bidders and also will make required amendments.
The judge then asked the AG to file a memo in this regard and adjourned the case to 2.30 pm.
When the judge resumed the hearing at 2.30 pm, the AG while placing the memo before the court, submitted that a notification with regard to revealing of revenue share will be issued on Monday and urged for case adjournment.
Expressing his disinclination to adjourn the case to Monday, the judge said that he will hear the case on Saturday. The judge, however, agreed to post the case to Monday after the repeated requests of the AG.
At the closing hours of the court i.e. at 4.30 pm, the AG again made a request for posting the case to Tuesday. Following this, the judge finally posted the case to Tuesday.