Dr Ambedkar memorial cost up by Rs 100 crore

Two months after floating bids for a 350-foot-long Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial at Indu Mill in Dadar, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has now inflated the construction cost of the project. This has resulted in an almost 10 per cent increase for the second time.

The initial cost of the project in 2016 was anticipated to be around Rs 500 crore. However, in April 2017 the bids were floated at an estimated cost of Rs 550 crore, and the same was revised to Rs 591 crore in the last week of June. Surprisingly, the authority of MMRDA headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in May 2017 had already sanctioned a sum of Rs 600 crore for the project. UPS Madan, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, told DNA, "The previous cost was an estimate. The authority of MMRDA has already approved a sum of Rs 600 crore for the project."

According to MMRDA officials, the cost revision had to be made because the bids were floated in April when estimations were yet to be finalised. "We were yet to conclude the estimated figure for the project and the detailed project report (DPR) was also not prepared in April. Now, with everything ready we issued a corrigendum and made few revisions in the contract," said an MMRDA official.

Meanwhile, the Centre through the National Textile Corporation (NTC) transferred the 12-acre Indu Mill land to the state government on March 25, 2017, where the MMRDA has planned to construct an auditorium, meditation area, and a pond.