Pollavaram project work reverse bid: AP govt says it cut cost

: The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday said it could cut down by over Rs 58 crore the cost of a package work related to Polavaram project through a reverse tendering process after it cancelled the works earlier alleging cost escalation.

On Friday, the price bids for the package 65 works, related to construction of 919-meter-long irrigation tunnel among others, were opened and one company quoted the lowest price of Rs 231.46 crore in reverse tendering.

The same company had bagged the package in March this year for Rs 292 crore, the Chief Ministers Office said in a release.

In July, the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government cancelled the Polavaram project headworks and also the hydro power project works alleging escalation of cost and declared its intention to go for reverse tendering to save public money.

Accordingly, it invited fresh bids for different packages under the headworks under the reverse tendering process.

The first package bids were opened on Friday.

The same company bagged the contract for 4.8 per cent extra cost but now, in reverse tendering, it bid for Rs 58.53 crore less price. This only proved that the N Chandrababu Naidu government inflated the works cost, the CMO release said.

Chandrababu Naidu, who is now Leader of Opposition, called it reserve tendering as the tender norms was tailor-made to suit a particular bidder.

At a press conference, he found fault with the reverse tendering process alleging that the bid norms were amended to suit a particular bidder.

The norms are tailor-made to favour someone. Its not reverse tendering but reserve tendering. The state government is going ahead with this process despite warning from the Centre, the former chief minister said.

The way the entire process was being carried out could endanger the safety of the project, he claimed.