Gujarat government’s six “model bus-ports” being built in Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Surat and Mehsana in the first phase have received a rap from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) for providing “undue favours” to private developers involved in building these structures.
“Transparent tender procedures require that conditions offered to the bidders at the time of bidding should not be subsequently changed at the time of awarding the contract as it goes against the principle of giving a fair level playing ground to all bidders. We observed that certain important conditions of the Model Concession Agreement (MCA) were changed prior to awarding contracts..,” stated the country’s audit watchdog in its report on public sector undertakings that was tabled in the Gujarat Assembly Thursday.
Mumbai-based Aakruti Nirman Limited had won the bid for developing bus terminals at Ahmedabad (Geeta Mandir), Vadodara (Makarpura), Surat (Adajan) and Mehsana (Modhera Cross Roads), while a consortium of SREI, CCEL and Shristi are developing those at Ahmedabad (Subash Bridge) and Vadodara (Central Bus station).
Apart from pointing out the changes made in the MCA with regard to payment of concession fees, CAG noted, “In the request for proposal (RFP), the total project area (i.e land area) was designated as 58,370 square meters for Geeta Mandir, 24,077 square meters for Makarpura, 21,160 square meters for Adajan and 86,280 square meters for Modhera Cross Road. On the same basis the developers had quoted the concession fees. However, at the time of signing of the Concession Agreement, the total project areas were increased to 60,159 sq mtr for Geeta Mandir, 25,362 sq mtr for Makarpura, 26,473 sq mtr for Adajan and 87,410 sq mtr for Modhera, but the bus terminal facility area was kept the same as per the RFP schedules. This resulted in increase in the commercial facility area to the concessionaire in the range of 1,356 sq mtr to 9,563 sq mtr.” This caused about Rs 13.14 crore loss in premium to GSTRC.
Similarly, the corporation lost Rs 17.23 crore after it approved “extra built up area for commercial facility” for the Subhash bridge bus terminal that was inaugurated last Sunday by Gujarat Chief minister Anandiben Patel and BJP National President Amit Shah. The auditor also noted that “condition for requirement of Escrow Account” was deleted after the issue of Letter of Intent and not at the RFP stage. This denies “a level playing ground to all bidders.” it added.
“The matter was reported to the government in May 2015; their replies were awaited,” CAG stated while acknowledging that the PPP model adopted “has been successful notwithstanding the delays in execution and deficiencies in the tender process.”