With the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), revising the list of financial bidders for the Rs 1,500-crore Hyderabad-Vijaywada project, the process of awarding of the project may be expedited. The 192-km stretch is part of National Highways Development Programme Phase-III.
Post the review ordered by a two-member committee of the ministry of road transport and highways, two players from the list that was announced in June this year by NHAI have been replaced.
?We have replaced the consortiums led by GMR and Madhucon. In their place, Isolux-Soma and Shapoorji Pallonji have been included for the financial bidding. The bidders will submit their financial bids in 45 days, and the project will be awarded thereafter,? said N Gokulram, chairman, NHAI.
Gokulram said the changes have been made on the basis of clarifications regarding statutory auditors, among others provided by the prospective bidders.
?As per the other clarifications, points were given to the bidders and the ranking has been changed accordingly. Isolux-Soma and Shapoorji Pallonji had higher rankings compared with GMR and Madhucon,? added Gokulram. Isolux-Soma and Shapoorji Pallonji will now bid for the project along with Maytas, Nagarjuna Constructions Company (NCC), GVK and L&T. Like in the earlier list, Reliance Infrastructure does not figure in the revised list.
The bidding process for the project came under the scrutiny of the ministry when it received representations against the players shortlisted by NHAI in June. NHAI had shortlisted Maytas, NCC, GVK, L&T, GMR, and Madhucon. The ministry got representations against the shortlist from Reliance Infrastructure, Macquarie Scurrilities (Asia) and Isolux-Soma-Omaxe consortium. A two-member committee was subsequently set up by the ministry to look into the matter.