CHENNAI: The state finance department is carrying out a detailed audit of tenders floated by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) after the civic body issued an unusually high 14,543 tenders in the last financial year - more than three times its usual annual average of 4,000 to 4,500, said Commissioner GS Sameeran in the monthly council meeting on Friday. The audit covers works that were taken up without following the prescribed approval and tendering process.
Sameeran said several works taken up during the previous financial year had put pressure on budgetary allocations without being entered in the corporation’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system or receiving administrative sanction. Some works, he added, had also been carried out without tenders.
The issue of irregularities in the tendering process came up after DMK councillor R Sriramalu questioned why work orders had not been issued for several tendered works.
The commissioner explained that civic works were required to follow a sequence of administrative sanction, financial approval and entry in the ERP system, followed by the tender process, selection of the bidder, issuance of the letter of award and, finally, the work order.
“When this process is not followed properly, such instances arise,” he said, adding that those tenders will be reviewed and an explanation will be presented by the next council meeting. He also said, based on the audit, appropriate action would be taken.
Pre-monsoon concerns
During zero hour, councillors also raised concerns over what they described as the slow progress of stormwater drain, desilting and road works ahead of the northeast monsoon.
Some councillors linked the delays to pending payments to contractors and the corporation’s financial constraints. They also alleged that in several wards, the AEE posting is vacant, further delaying monsoon works. In response, Sameeran said four monsoon review meetings chaired by different ministers had been held since June, besides a meeting with the mayor and deputy mayor and reviews at the secretariat. Mayor R Priya and Deputy Mayor M Magesh Kumaar, however, said they had not been consulted on the review meetings.
Rs 300 cr to pay 10% of dues
The council on Friday approved availing an overdraft facility of Rs 300 crore to meet immediate cash-flow requirements, including payment of pending bills and critical expenditure ahead of the monsoon. As of August 19, bills worth Rs 2,090 crore were pending, comprising Rs 1,280 crore in capital expenditure bills and Rs 809 crore in revenue expenditure bills.
Of this, Rs 741 crore has been discounted through RXIL under the Trade Receivables Discounting System, which enables eligible vendors to receive funds against approved bills through the platform.
Of the proposed overdraft, Rs 150 crore will be raised against a temporary fixed deposit created from balances available under various funds, including the Nirbhaya Fund and State Disaster Mitigation Fund. The remaining Rs 150 crore will be raised as a general overdraft to clear pending bills and meet expenditure.
Marina rope car project may not take off
The corporation on Friday said that setting up the long-awaited rope car facility in Marina between Napier Bridge and Light House may be difficult, as the private organisation, which carried out soil and feasibility studies, found that the area falls under CRZ-1 and CRZ-1A zones. Mayor R Priya said the project, estimated to cost over Rs 100 crore, announced by the civic body in 2022 under public private partnership model (PPP) may be difficult to implement as the private firm found that several locations required for the project are important tortoise nesting sites. “Considering environmental and public safety and technological feasibility, it was considered difficult to implement,” she said, adding that the matter would be looked into again. Commissioner G S Sameeran also noted that financial feasibility was another challenge.