Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Friday alleged that the tenders for concretisation of roads in Mumbai were floated at a higher price for the benefit of contractors and the same should be scrapped.
Addressing a press conference, Thackeray said new contracts worth more than Rs 6,000 crore had been issued to concretise 400 km of roads in the city.
“Whatever the estimated price was till March 2022, all contractors would bid 20 per cent less than the estimated price,” the Sena leader said.
If a work bid is of Rs 100, then it would happen with Rs 80, which would also include the Goods and Services Tax (GST), he alleged.
In November 2022, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation re-floated tenders worth Rs 6,079 crore for the concretisation of 400 km of the metropolis’ roads.
The tenders were issued after an earlier one worth Rs 5,806 crore was cancelled due to poor response, the civic body had stated at the time.
The former minister claimed that when a tender of Rs 5,000 crore was floated in August 2022, no one responded to it. So, in November-December last year, the civic body changed the schedule of rates, which includes escalations and de-escalation of prices.
The cost increased by 20 per cent, and so contractors benefited, he said, terming the move as a “systematic loot” of Mumbaikars.
“Why did the BMC not negotiate it (with the contractors)? When there is a general body, mayor or standing committee who gave the administrator the right to do that (to issue such contracts)?” Thackeray said.
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