VIJAYAWADA/ONGOLE: The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government’s attempt to save exchequer’s money through reverse tendering has yielded desired result once again with Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) quoting 7 per cent less price, compared to the contract awarded during the previous regime for the execution of Poola Subbaiah Veligonda Tunnel-II. On a pro-rata basis, the government has claimed that Rs 61.76 crore is the net saving due to the reverse tendering of Veligonda project.
The Water Resources department on Saturday opened the financial bids filed for the project and found that Rs 512.5 crore bid was the lowest. Setting this as the benchmark, the department held reverse bidding, in which MEIL quoted Rs 491.37 crore. “As per the recommendations of the expert committee, reverse tendering was held, in which MEIL quoted Rs 491.37 crore, Rs 21.14 crore less than the benchmark value of Rs 512.5 crore for reverse bidding. The benchmark value is itself Rs 40.63 crore less than the earlier awarded value. So, the total saving is Rs 61.76 crore,” an official explained.
For the record, the previous government set the estimated contract value (ECV) for the project works at Rs 528.35 crore. The works were awarded to Rithwik Projects Private Ltd (RPPL), owned by the family of the then TDP MP CM Ramesh (now with the BJP) for an excess of 4.69 per cent at Rs 577.91 crore. After the change of guard, the expert committee constituted by the YSRC dispensation to review various engineering projects, recommended that fresh tenders be called because of the anomalies in the previous contract. The department accordingly terminated the contract of the works, which did not achieve 25 per cent progress, as part of its policy decision, and initiated reverse tendering for the balance works worth Rs 553.13 crore.
Veligonda Tunnel-II, which is 7.57 km long with 9.2-metre diameter, is the second project for which the State government went for reverse tendering after the Polavaram project. According to Veligonda project Superintending Engineer V Veerraju, four companies, including RPPL, MEIL, Patel Infrastructure Ltd and RR Constructions, participated in the tendering process. However, the project has been bagged by MEIL, which also secured Polavaram irrigation and hydel power projects.