Mumbai: Government Extends Bid Submission Deadline For Thane Elevated Road And Twin Tunnel Projects By 60 Days

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court on Tuesday that it is extending by 60 days, the last date of submission of bids for the Thane elevated road and twin tunnel projects worth Rs 16, 577 crore. The statement was made while hearing petitions filed by L&T challenging the tender process of the two infrastructure projects contending that the October 7 deadline following what it claimed were last-minute significant technical changes to the tender clauses.

Senior advocate Birendra Saraf, appearing for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), on instructions, informed a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar that the authority shall extend the last date of submission of bids by 60 days from Tuesday (October 8), during which period petitioner (L&T) may submit its revised bid after carrying out geo-technical investigation survey in its own. Saraf clarified that even other bidders could submit their revised bids.

L&T had filed two petitions questioning the last minute changes to the tender process for infrastructure projects. One project links Thane and Mira Bhayander through a tunnel from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel junction at Shilphata. The other project is an elevated creek road bridge connecting Bhayander to Ghodbunder Road in Thane, this will be second longest after the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, also known as Atal Setu.

After Saraf's statement, L&T withdrew its petitions. During the hearing, the court had remarked that the geo-technical investigation report was essential considering the nature of the project. The judges highlighted that the construction of the bridge was not like that of an ordinary bridge over a river.

The petitions were mentioned for urgent hearing on Monday and doubt interim stay on opening of technical bids. Saraf had made a statement that it would not open the technical bids for a bid, following which the HC heard the plea at length on Tuesday.

The infrastructure giant had contended that the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) of MMRDA did not contain the geotechnical data for the bridge and the bidders were burdened to collect the said data through an amendment, merely two days before the deadline to submit the tender on October 3, which was later extended to October 7. The firm, a competent top infra company in the world, claimed it would require 30 days to collect the data.