For the second time in a row, only one bidder has shown interest in the construction of a grand memorial of Dr BR Ambedkar on the city’s Indu Mill lands. On Thursday, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) opened the technical bids for the project.
Only the Shapoorji Pallonji group, which had also bid for the project when tenders were floated in April, submitted bids again, said officials. MMRDA officials said the financial bids for the project will be opened on Friday.
“If the financial bid submitted is high in comparison to our estimated project cost, then we might have to float tenders again. However, according to norms, if there is only one bidder even after the second call for bids, then the submission can be accepted,” said Pravin Darade, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA. The project was re-tendered earlier this month as MMRDA had received only a single response the first time.
Darade added that since the work is specialised, not be many companies might come forward.
To be constructed on 12 acres of the Dadar plot, the design for the memorial includes a 350-foot-tall statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, a library, replica of the Chavdar pond in Raigad, a number of viewing points for the memorial and a parking lot, a stone’s throw from Chaityabhoomi, where Ambedkar’s ashes were interred.
With project delays, the construction cost has been revised four times in two years. The current estimated costs, as of June-end, is Rs622 crore.