The bidding for the four- and six-laning of the 182 km road between Hyderabad and Vijayawada under the third phase of the National Highway Development Programme has been kept in abeyance by the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways.
This follows questions raised by some infrastructure companies about the fairness of the bidding process of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the agency responsible for implementing highway projects in the country. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 1,460 crore.
Nineteen large domestic infrastructure companies had technically qualified for the project. Of these, the NHAI had shortlisted six companies for the final bidding — including Nagarjuna Construction Company-Mayta’s Infra, Madhucon-Gulfar, GMR-Punj Lloyd, GVK, Hindustan Construction Company and Larsen & Toubro.
The shortlisting was done on the basis of the new model selection criteria introduced by the finance ministry and Planning Commission recently. According to it, each company or consortium was given certain points based on past experience and net worth.
The companies which failed to make it to the list included Reliance Energy, Gammon Infrastructure, ISOLUX-Soma-Omaxe, CINTRA-SPCL, DLF-Gayathri Infra, IL&FS, ITDC, Patel Engineering-KNR-DS Constructions and IJM-IRCON.
The aggrieved parties alleged that the method of selection was not according to the norms. After receiving the complaints, the ministry has constituted a two-member committee to review the bidding process for the project.
Confirming the development, a ministry official said: “A committee comprising NHAI Chairman N Gokulram and Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways Secretary Brahmdutt has been asked to submit its report within 50 days. Further decision on the bidding process would be taken based on the findings of this committee.”
