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Indian Express
18 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
CMO directs BMC to complete land acquisition for Phase 2 of coastal road within 15 days
The chief minister's office has directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to complete the land acquisition for the Phase 2 of the Mumbai Coastal Road project within the next 15 days. For the said project, the BMC has to reclaim 165 hectares of land between Versova and Bhayander in the western suburbs and north Mumbai. In a review meeting held on Friday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also stressed that the project needs to be completed by 2028. Civic officials said that of the total land parcels that need to be acquired, 80% are government lands. 'Many of these lands belong to the fisheries department and revenue department. The proposal for transferring the lands have already been raised with the respective departments. On Friday's meeting it was decided that the ownership of these lands should be transferred to the BMC in the next 15 days for the coastal road project and we will be following up with respective departments,' an official told the Indian Express. 'The parcels mostly include mangrove patches and marshy lands. There will be no reclamation of the sea unlike the first phase of the project,' the official said. The civic officials maintained that the process of changing the reservation of these lands have already been initiated. In Mumbai, vacant land parcels are reserved under the BMC's Development Plan (2034) model. These reservations are made so that the land parcels are earmarked for utilising them for public amenities in the future. In case the said land parcel falls in the alignment of any infrastructure or government project, their reservations are being changed in order to assimilate them for the said project. As part of this project, nearly 60 plots between Goregaon and Dahisar will undergo change of reservation. It was also decided in the meeting that the periphery around the coastal road will be transformed into a modern commercial hub on the lines of the present day Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). The CMO also stated that adequate compensatory plantation of the mangroves should also need to be carried out simultaneously as the construction of the project begins. 'We have acquired the coastal clearances and Union ministry's clearance for this project. After the forest permissions come through, we will approach the Bombay High Court seeking permission to cut mangroves,' the official said. The proposed second phase of the coastal road has been divided into six different packages. Package A will cover 4.5 km between Versova and Bangur Nagar (Goregaon), Package B will cover 1.66 km between Bangur Nagar and Mindspace (Malad). The packages C and D will include twin tunnels–3.9 km long–connecting Mindspace at Malad with Charkop in Kandivali. Package E will be 3.78 km, connecting Charkop with Gorai and the final Package F will be 3.69 km which will connect Gorai with Dahisar. From Dahisar, the civic authorities are constructing another 5.6 km elevated corridor that will extend till Bhayander at Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The overall project will be 25 km long and the total cost of these two projects have been pegged at Rs 20,000 crore. The BMC last year had secured environmental clearances for going ahead with the project and the on-groundwork started this year. The phase two of the coastal road will be a series of underground tunnels, cable-stayed bridge and vehicular interchanges that will improve north-south connectivity. The coastal road will also provide connectivity with the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR), an east-west connector that is also being constructed by the Mumbai civic body.
Indian Express
11-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Thane-Bhayandar mega projects: Days after scrapping tenders, MMRDA seeks details of L&T's ‘Rs 3,000 crore lower' bid
Days after scrapping two tenders worth Rs 14,000 crore for the Thane-Ghodbunder to Bhayandar tunnel and elevated road projects in the 'larger public interest', the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has asked Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Ltd to provide detailed financial estimates which were part of its bid. This comes after L&T disclosed before the Supreme Court that its price bid was over Rs 3,000 crore lower than the lowest bidder declared by MMRDA. The L&T had claimed before the SC that compared to Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) which was declared as the lowest bidder for both the projects, its price bid was almost Rs 2,521 crore less in case of the tunnel project, and Rs 609 crore less for the elevated road project. According to sources, the financial estimates from L&T from its earlier bid will play a crucial role in the fresh tendering process the MMRDA plans to initiate. They said that the 'sanctity of the sealed bid process was compromised', since L&T voluntarily revealed its bid in court. The two projects are proposed to link Thane with Mira-Bhayandar and are part of an extension of the Mumbai Coastal Road project. The first project, estimated at Rs 8,000 crore, is a 5-km twin tunnel of 14.6-metre diameter, connecting Gaimukh near the mouth of Vasai Creek in Mira-Bhayandar to the Fountain Hotel junction at Shilphata in Thane. The second project, with estimated cost of Rs 6,000 crore is a 9.8-km elevated creek road bridge, will connect Bhayandar with Ghodbunder Road in Thane. The MMRDA, in its June 10 communication made through its Superintendent Engineer, referred to proceedings before the Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai, through which the company had challenged May 20 orders passed by the Bombay High Court. The vacation bench of the HC had refused relief to L&T on its pleas which claimed that the MMRDA had decided to open financial bids for the two projects by excluding L&T, prompting it to approach SC. On May 29, the SC, after perusing L &T's disclosure, had warned the MMRDA that its failure to carry out re-tendering process might lead to court to stay the tenders in question. The next day, the SC noted that MMRDA has 'fairly' submitted that the state has decided to scrap the entire tender process 'in larger public interest', after which the court disposed of L&T's appeal as 'infructuous'. In a press statement issued on the same day, MMRDA had stated that it was 'actively considering a downward revision of the base cost by approximately Rs 3,000 crore, based on price quotations disclosed during the proceedings, to ensure optimal use of public funds'. Taking it further, the MMRDA in its June 10 letter claimed that L&T had 'voluntarily/unilaterally disclosed its financial bids submitted to MMRDA as a part of the tender process' before SC. The disclosure had claimed L&T's price bids were significantly lower than those of other responsive bidders. The L&T had quoted Rs. 5,554 crore for the elevated road project and Rs. 6,498 crore for the road tunnel project. The authority said that while it 'defended confidentiality and legal validity of technical evaluation process, in the spirit of transparency and larger public interest' before the Supreme Court, it was 'prudent to re-examine the L&T's estimates', therefore 'voluntarily proposed to scrap tender process' and 'to re-tender with appropriate revision of the base price of the projects.' The MMRDA said that it was requesting L&T to provide within seven working days the detailed financial estimates/price bids submitted by it for both the projects, to 'ensure completeness of the bid records'. The development authority for the MMR region also sought from L&T the supporting calculation sheets or explanatory notes that were part of its financial bid, along with rate analysis and detailed justification.
Indian Express
29-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Thane-Bhayandar mega infra projects: Why L&T, MMRDA are in Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Thursday (May 29) asked Mumbai's infrastructure development authority whether it was willing to carry out a re-tendering process for two major projects in the financial capital – and warned that failure to do so might lead to the court to stay the current tenders. A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai and Justice A G Masih had asked this question to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) first on May 26. The Bench had said it was difficult to comprehend that the technical bids submitted by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Ltd – the company which had been chosen to execute the Central Vista project in New Delhi – had been rejected for the Thane-Ghodbunder to Bhayandar tunnel and elevated road projects. The Bench is hearing a challenge by L&T to orders passed by the Bombay High Court on May 20 upholding MMRDA's position that the reasons for rejecting the technical bids need not be communicated to the company before the projects are awarded. The two projects will link Thane with Mira-Bhayandar. They are part of an extension of the Mumbai Coastal Road project. The first project is a 5-km twin tunnel of 14.6-metre diameter, connecting Gaimukh near the mouth of Vasai Creek in Mira-Bhayandar to the Fountain Hotel junction at Shilphata in Thane. The project cost is estimated at Rs 8,000 crore. The second project, a 9.8-km elevated creek road bridge, will connect Bhayandar with Ghodbunder Road in Thane. The cost of this project is estimated at Rs 6,000 crore. The elevated bridge is likely to be second in length only to the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) bridge, also called Atal Setu, which, at almost 22 km, is both the longest bridge and the longest sea bridge in India. L&T's contention MMRDA invited tenders for the two projects on July 27, 2024. L&T approached the HC claiming not enough time had been allowed to collect geotechnical data. On October 8, MMRDA assured that the last date for the submission of bids would be extended by 60 days. Earlier this month, L&T filed two petitions before the HC, contending that MMRDA did not follow a fair and transparent tender process. The company said that it had submitted its technical bid on December 13, 2024, and the bid was opened on January 1, 2025 – however, it had received no communication about the outcome of the evaluation. After learning that MMRDA had scheduled the opening of financial bids on May 13 and invited select bidders for it, L&T suspected that it had been excluded from the process, the company submitted. This, L&T said, violated the principles of natural justice. The Instructions to Bidders (ITB) – which are detailed guidelines for potential bidders to prepare and submit their bids for a specific project – are discriminatory, L&T said. MMRDA's stand MMRDA claimed that as per the clauses of ITB, it was not required to intimate L&T that its technical bid had been found unresponsive before the opening of financial bids. Once L&T had accepted the terms of the tender, it could not oppose the opening of the financial bids, MMRDA submitted. It argued that public infrastructure projects should not be delayed, and L&T's pleas deserved to be dismissed. High Court ruling A Vacation Bench of the court dismissed L&T's pleas and declined to continue the stay on opening of financial bids for the elevated road. In the case of the tunnel project, the Bench rejected L&T's plea, noting a 'suppression of material facts'. The HC said it had to be 'mindful' that the matter involved 'mega infrastructure projects of significant public importance', and 'any delay…would adversely impact the execution of the project'. The court gave L&T the opportunity to approach the Supreme Court in appeal. In Supreme Court L&T submitted before the SC that there was an arbitrary declaration of the L1 (Lowest one) bid for both projects to Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL), even though its bid was at a substantially higher project cost compared to L&T's. L&T claimed that compared to MEIL, its price bid was almost Rs 2,521 crore less in case of the tunnel project, and Rs 609 crore less for the elevated road project. MMRDA argued that the question of price did not arise if the petitioner was disqualified. However, the Bench disagreed, and said it shall be considered in case of 'public interest matters' and 'public money would be saved'. On Thursday (May 29), the SC reiterated that the difference of nearly Rs 3,100 crore between the two bidders was 'not a small amount'. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing MMRDA submitted that the disqualification was not on 'flimsy or fanciful grounds' and the authority would justify its decision and respond to the court's queries during the next hearing. The matter will come up for hearing on May 30.
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
BMC plans to appoint Pawan Hans for Worli jetty helipad feasibility study
Mumbai: The BMC's Coastal Road department has proposed appointing Pawan Hans Ltd , a govt of India enterprise, as a consultant to conduct a feasibility study for constructing a helipad at Worli Jetty. This is part of a multimodal transportation plan under the Mumbai Coastal Road project. TOI was the first to report about the helipad plans in March when deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde asked the BMC to consider setting it up along the Coastal Road. A BMC official said, "As it's a govt undertaking, it has been proposed to directly appoint Pawan Hans as a consultant for the project. Permission from the administrator is being sought for the same." The plans are to set up a helipad on a temporary jetty that was made for the Coastal Road project opposite Worli Dairy. There were initially two jetties, one near Amarsons Garden that was dismantled and the other at Worli. The Worli jetty was not proposed to be dismantled as coastal police sought some space for surveillance. This area is large enough to allow helicopter landing, civic officials said. The civic body will pay Pawan Hans a consultancy fee of Rs 5 lakh. — Richa Pinto
