Pune: The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is facing a significant delay in resolving the deadlock over tenders for the Ring Road project.
Despite appointing a third-party agency to review the tenders one and a half months ago, no report has been received. This delay is raising concerns, as only one month remains before the Assembly election code of conduct takes effect.
Without the report, the Ring Road project, aimed at easing traffic congestion in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, might face delays.
The Ring Road project is divided into two phases, East and West, with a total length of 127 km and a width of about 110 meters. The MSRDC initiated the tender process in nine packages to select a contractor company. Twelve companies submitted tenders within the deadline.
The tenders were opened in Mumbai, where Megha Engineering and Navayuga Engineering were found to have submitted the lowest bids for six of the nine packages.
The remaining three packages saw PMC Infra, Roadway Solution India Infra, and GR Infra submit the lowest bids. However, upon review, the MSRDC found that these tenders were 40-50% higher than the estimated cost, leading to a significant increase in the project's expense.
The MSRDC then appointed a technical institution in Mumbai to review the tenders as a third party, but even after one and a half months, the review report has not been received, causing further delays in the project.
There is also speculation that the companies whose tenders were approved had funded political parties in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
These companies have submitted tenders at increased rates and are believed to be pressuring for the project due to their political affiliations, leading to questions about how to resolve this issue.
