Contractor gets back project

HMDA HAS taken up the strengthening and widening of radial roads in Hyderabad city. IT CALLED for tenders for the 5.8 km of road from Jeedimetla to Saregudem and awarded the contract to GVR-DRA.

A contract that was terminated by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), was reinstated on the directions of K.T. Rama Rao on October this year.

Khammam-based GVRDRA, a joint venture, was awarded the `70 crore contract for radial road work from Jeedimetla to Saregudem. The work progressed very slowly and HMDA terminated the contract. The contractor approached Mr Rama Rao who asked HMDA to consider revoking its order. HMDA did so and gave the company a fresh deadline.

HMDA has taken up the strengthening and widening of radial roads in Hyderabad city. It called for tenders for the 5.8 km of road from Jeedimetla to Saregudem and awarded the contract to GVRDRA, which quoted `69.90 crore, 18.35 per cent less than the estimated contract amount.

The work was executed so slowly that the state government permitted HMDA to take action against the contractor.

HMDA informed the government that in view of the additional cost of `17.63 crore it would incur to complete the work by calling for fresh tenders and submission of a revised works programme, orders to terminate the contract should be kept in abeyance till March 31, 2017.

Though given a reprieve, the contractor did not cash in on it, but once again failed to achieve the targeted progress as per the revised programme.

HMDA informed the government that the contractor had not met more than 30 per cent of the target by the end of August 2017 and said it is now fully justified in terminating the contract. After it did so and invoked bank guarantees towards performance security and mobilisation advance amounting `10.48 crore and `2.62 crore respectively, the contractor begged HMDA to give him a second chance to complete the work by the end of December 2017.

On October 10, 2017, Mr Rama Rao instructed HMDA to consider the representation of the contractor and give him a last chance to complete the work.

Accordingly, HMDA revoked the termination of the contract through another agreement to the effect that the work should be completed by May 31, 2018, failing which action will be taken as per the contract, including encashment of bank guarantees towards performance security and additional performance security along with the balance mobilisation advance.

This agreement went into effect on October 11, 2017 and the road work is ongoing.