DINDOSHI HSG PROJECT
All tender documents must be preserved, says former civic chief ….Nauzer Bharucha I TNN
Mumbai: Former civic chief S S Tinaikar, who has conducted several inquiries on behalf of the state government, said that once a tender has been finalised, there should be no need for secrecy.
Quoting the observations of the central vigilance commission, the former bureaucrat was reacting to the sale of a public housing project in Dindoshi at a cheap rate to a private developer by the state government undertaking, Shivshahi Purnavasan Prakalp Ltd in 2006.
About 889 flats in eight virtually-completed buildings were sold to Mantri Group for Rs 120 crore through a tendering process, which many believed to be much lower than the market rate. As reported by TOI last week, one of the tender conditions which raised eyebrows was an announcement which stated that, 途emaining financial bid documents will be destroyed as it is (unopened). No complaints/correspondences whatsoever in this regard will be entertained鋳.
的t is wrong and not in conformity with established practices and procedures. As inviting tenders by a public authority is mandatory, all records must be preserved for post audit if demanded,鋳 said Tinaikar.
However, SPPL company secretary S B Mhatre on Wednesday said that the company has not destroyed any documents of the bid process of the Dindoshi project. 鄭ll documents including unopened financial bids are preserved intact in the office, 葬 said Mhatre.
Tinaikar observed that this is the second case he has come across where the bid document contained such a controversial stipulation. In 2001, Tinaikar was appointed by the state government to inquire into alleged financial misconduct in the BMC. While investigating irregularities in the purchase of medical equipment by municipal hospitals, the then civic chief K C Srivastava did not allow him to open a sealed tender which was rejected. Tinaikar had complained to the state government. 的 need to know the offer contained in the sealed cover as the gravity of the impropriety will increase if a tender which ought to have been considered is rejected outright in a wrongful manner,鋳 said Tinaikar, in his letter to the then urban development secretary in 2001. 的t is a matter of conjecture why this is being done,鋳 he said.
Meanwhile, Mhatre said the final offer made by Mantri Group was in consonance with and matched the ready reckoner rate of that year. 的t is also in consonance with the sale price of Mhada in the adjoining plot during that same period,鋳 he said. Mantri Group paid at a rate of just Rs 1,850 a sq ft as against the construction cost of Rs 1,350 a sq ft.According to him,the eight residential buildings which were sold to Mantri Group were lying incomplete in 2002. 鄭t that time, SPPL invited applications from individual buyers by giving advertisments for the sale of these flats. Although 64 application forms were sold, not a single offer for purchase of flats was received,鋳 he said.
By March 2004, the contractor slowed down the work and later abandoned it over the payment issue. 鄭s there was no response from individual buyers, SPPL being in need of liquid funds, decided to liquidate the investments made in the project so that the money received from the sale could be deployed in other projects,鋳 said Mhatre. He added that Mantri would have to spend an additional Rs 100 crore to finish the incomplete works. 擢urther the land under the project belongs to the state government, which will be given on lease agreement to the society of flat owners. It is not a freehold land to which the sale price is attached. This factor also needs to be considered while looking at the bid price,鋳 he said.