Following the clearance from the cabinet, the Water Resources department is set to award the works of Vykuntapuram barrage project to Navayuga Group. The cabinet, on Saturday, decided to award the project, which did not receive any bids when tenders were initiated thrice in the past, to the lowest bidder since no other agency was coming forward. Speaking to TNIE, a senior official said, “We opened the bids a couple of days ago and Navayuga Group submitted the lowest bid. We have received formal consent from the government. Now that the cabinet has cleared it, the formalities will be concluded soon.”
Vykuntapuram barrage, with a 10 TMC storage capacity, will be built to meet the drinking water needs of the people of the upcoming capital Amaravati. It will come up 23 km upstream Prakasam Barrage and 60 km downstream of Pulichintala project.
It may be recalled that the officials had to revise the project’s Internal Benchmark (IBM) value thrice last year — from `898 crore to `1,025 crores and then to `1,069 crore — since no bidder evinced interest to execute it. However, even after the price revision, the agencies refrained from participating in the bidding process. With this, the officials, in December, relaxed the five per cent ceiling on the tender schedule, enabling the agency to quote a higher price.
Following the relaxation, two firms filed the bids. “Navayuga Group and SEW Infrastructure bid for 13 per cent and 16 per cent in excess. We chose the lowest bidder of the two and forwarded it to the officials concerned. The letter of award is under preparation,” another official explained. Repeated revision of the project cost resulted in criticism that the hike was deliberately done to favour the contracting agencies. However, the officials denied the allegation and said, “The nature of the work is complex as it has to be built in the catchment area of the river. That is why the agencies wanted a viable price.”
As per the administrative sanction accorded to the project, Vykuntapuram barrage is estimated to cost `2,169 crores, including the land acquisition cost component of `700 crore to `800 crore. Now that the agency has been finalised, the department is planning to have the foundation for the project laid by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu at the earliest. The officials said that the programme is expected to be held in February itself as election code would come into effect next month.
Project cost revised thrice
Repeated revision of the project cost resulted in criticism that the hike was deliberately done to favour the contracting agencies. However, officials denied the allegation and said, “The nature of the work is complex and that is why the agencies wanted a viable price.”
