STATE INCURRED LOSS ON T-HUB CONSULTANTS

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) made some grave observations on the selection of consultants for the construction of T-Hub 1 and 2 and Innovation in Multimedia, Animation, Gaming and Entertainment (IMAGE) tower.

It pointed out that the entire tender process for the selection of consultant architects was done in violation of manual provisions and that it lacked transparency and fairness. The CAG said that this needs to be probed as it has led to an extra financial burden of `16.70 crores.

As per the finance code, percentage of construction cost cannot be given to the contractor, without creating estimates. The CAG pointed out that TSIIC did not fix the construction cost for T-Hub Phase 2 and went ahead giving a percentage to the contractor. Consequently, the cost of the work escalated to `16.43 crores, increasing the receivables of the consultant by `62.10 lakh. The CAG commented that this deviation was not there in T-Hub phase1, but for T-Hub phase2 adopting percentage contract was not in the financial interest of the IT Department or TSIIC. Furthermore, without specifying minimum qualifying marks in Request for Proposals (RFP), the Financial bid of M/S W Design Studio Pvt Ltd that executed THub Phase1 was opened.

For the IMAGE tower, the lowest bidder quoted 2.30 per cent but a firm which quoted 3.55 per cent was selected.