Bihar government's ambitious Ganga Express-way project today suffered a major setback as none of the selected companies participated in the final bid. The State government has now ordered a review of this project.
The state government envisioned this Rs. 2,224 crores worth project to provide 22 KMs long four lane congestion free road link within Patna. According to the officials, once completed, it would change the look of the state capital. Government approved the project in August and planned to construct the road on private-public partnership (PPP) model. It has planned to begin work by the end of the year. However, it has been let down by the reluctance of bidders. Only half a dozen companies submitted their technical bids, 2 of them backed out soon. One bid was rejected on technical grounds. State government requested the remaining three companies, Reliance Infrastructure, Gammon India and Navyuga Constructions, to submit their financial bids by today. However, none of them showed up.
State government is blaming global slowdown for this no show. "We are not at all happy," said Nand Kishore Yadav, Road Construction Minister of the state, "however, it's not our fault. The world is going through a financial slowdown." He added, "It is a big project, which would require almost Rs. 1,400 crores investment from our private partner. This type of money is very hard to come these days. This is why, we received such response. However, we are now evaluating the other options as well."
However, according to some officials, companies were asking for major concessions from the state government. They were asking for toll booths at shorter distances, development of tourist spots to increase traffic and extension of collection period. But the state government was not ready to go beyond the Government of India's guidelines.
The state government has now ordered a review, which will be done by Bihar Rajya Pull Nirman Nigam. "We have asked for a review because we want new options. We will not abandon the project. If necessary, the state government can develop this project with its own fund. However, the PPP route is also open. We will decide after the final report of the Nigam, which will come in 2 months," said the minister. However, he accepted that now the project will not be ready on the scheduled time. Earlier, Government aimed to complete the project by 2015.
