Maha govt re-evaluting bids for sea link

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government is re-evaluting bids given by the consortia led by the rival Ambani brothers for building the Sewri-Nhava sea link project, Public Works Department Minister Anil Deshmukh said.

"The state cabinet would undertake detailed discussions before coming to a conclusion on the issue," Deshmukh, who is also the Chairman of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, said on the sidelines of a function yesterday.

The consortium led by Anil Ambani's Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) had quoted a concessional period of almost ten years while Mukesh Ambani's Sky Infrastructure has sought a concession period of 75 years before the bridge is handed over to the government.

After a pitched legal battle REL, which was initially not allowed to participate in technical bidding for the project, was allowed to submit their proposal. After the financial bidding, the project was awarded to the REL.

The government decided to re-evaluate the bids after both bids were found to be unrealistic, sources said.

"At present the bid of REL is being re-evaluated and a decision will be taken after both bids are completely evaluated," Deshmukh said.

It is also being considered to ask REL to stick to a concessional period of 40 years and submit a deposit of Rs 500 crore to the government, he said.

The sea link linking the city to Nhava in Raigad district will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 5,000 crore and the private builder can recover costs through toll collected during the concessional period.