Shapoorji Pallonji’s bid for C Vista avenue lowest
NEW DELHI: The Shapoorji Pallonji Group on Wednesday emerged as the lowest bidder for the Centre’s tender for the redevelopment and restructuring of the Central Vista Avenue after it quoted a financial bid of ₹477 crore, nearly 5% lower than the estimated cost of the project pegged at ₹502 crore.
The redevelopment of the avenue — which comprises Rajpath, leading from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate — will involve restructuring the avenue, creating underground passes, landscaping the green areas and giving a commitment to comprehensive maintenance and operation of the same for five years, documents reviewed by HT stated.
Four firms qualified for the financial bid that opened on January 1 to redevelop the avenue: ITD Cementation quoted ₹490 crore, NCC Limited quoted ₹601 crore and Tata Projects Limited quoted ₹488 crore.
This will be the second phase of redevelopment after Tata Projects Limited was tasked with the construction of the new Parliament complex on September 29, 2020. “A letter of award will be given to the selected firm in a fortnight, it is likely to be awarded to the L1 bidder,” a ministry official said on Wednesday. L1 refers to the lowest bidder.
The Central Public Works Department, nodal agency for the redevelopment project, revised the estimated cost for the project from ₹463 crore to ₹502 crore in a modified tender document released in November. Of this, ₹372.9 crore is earmarked for civil work and horticulture, ₹113.7 crore for electrical and mechanical work and ₹15.51 crore for operation and maintenance, all for a period of five years.
“This estimate, however, is given merely as a rough guide,” the revised tender document stated.
The tender for the redevelopment of the Central Vista avenue also mandates the firms to maintain it for five years from completion, and requires that the project be completed within 300 days. Work will also need to be carried out in sections to minimise the portion of the avenue that is cordoned off at any given time. “The contractor may have to execute the work in three shifts with large manpower of workers, supervisors and professional engineers,” it added.
The next phase will involve razing the buildings on either side of the avenue that house ministry offices to make the Central Secretariat: a set of 11 buildings that will house all the 51 central government ministries.
The bid win comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday giving its nod to the project that included construction of a new Parliament Building and a common Central Secretariat by a 2:1 majority.
The apex court said that clearance of the Heritage Conservation Committee will be mandatory and the same should be obtained by the project consultant before proceeding with the development work.
The Bench also directed installation of smog guns at the project site to curb pollution and asked the Ministry of Environment and Forests to consider having smog guns while carrying out any such work in future.
The Centre had last month opened the technical bids for the tender narrowing on five firms, HT reported on December 14.
The plan, being handled by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs, involves having a new Parliament building in place by India’s 75th Independence Day in 2022, while the entire project, which includes constructing 11 administrative buildings to house all the government ministries, is slated to be finished by 2024.