The issue of corruption, in varying degrees, has been in existence for long, but my government is committed to fight it ruthlessly鈥�. We will combat corruption firmly,鈥� Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said at an Indian Express event in Mumbai.
MMRDA recently locked horns with the Supreme Court as it questioned the manner in which MMRDA disqualified L&T鈥檚 bid for the Thane-Ghodbunder to Bhayander infrastructure project, estimated at 鈧� 6,000 crore for an elevated road and 鈧� 8,000 crore for a tunnel, although L&T鈥檚 bid was lower by 鈧� 3,000 crore. L&T had appealed to the apex court because MMRDA had scheduled the opening of financial bids without informing the company or inviting it to witness the process, while other bidders were notified. The company slated to win this tender was none other than Megha Engineering, the Hyderabad-based, second-largest construction company, which was also among the largest contributors to electoral bonds.聽
In one of my previous editorials, I have pointed out that a contract award to a company that contributes to a party, which is in turn obliged to sanction projects in its favour, is the riskiest as it is highly compromised. The fact that Megha Engineering 鈥� despite being widely known as one of the ruling party鈥檚 top donors 鈥� continues to secure projects, often through the disqualification of eligible and formidable competitors, represents a serious rupture in the fabric of governance. Anyway, MMRDA caved in and scrapped the tender. I think the words of the Chief Minister weighed in on this one.
It is time we intensified our quality standards as we continue to invest over Rs 10 trillion in our infrastructure. Take the recent collapse of NH 66 in Kerala, the 39.7-km project that is 99 per cent ready, being completed at a cost of 鈧� 2,368 crore. The preliminary findings of the expert committee suggests that the failure is 鈥渄ue to inability of the foundation soils to support the high embankment loads鈥�. The punishment meted out has been swift. NHAI has suspended KNR Constructions from participating in future bids, along with a show-cause notice to levy monetary penalty of 鈧� 11.8 crore and debarment for up to one year. The independent engineer of the project, Highway Engineering Consultant, and its team leader was also suspended. Further, NHAI has issued a show-cause notice to design consultants Strata Geosystem and HBS Infra Engineers and safety consultant Sri Infotech for debarment up to one year and a penalty of 鈧� 20 lakh. The BJP Guardian Minister of Maharashtra, Ashish Shelar, has also asked the Mumbai Municipal Corporation to penalise road contractors for their shoddy work that came to light owing to the recent untimely downpour in Mumbai, catching the corporation off-guard.
India is now on its way to beating Japan to becoming the country with the fourth largest GDP in the world. But that鈥檚 nothing to cheer. Japan is a country of 123 million people with a per-capita income of $ 33,900, while India is a country of 1.46 billion people with a per-capita income of $ 2,880. That said, when China reached a $ 4 trillion economy, its per-capita income was about $ 3500; so that鈥檚 not a bad position for India because China鈥檚 per-capita income after a decade of rapid transformation now stands at over $ 13,000. The next decade for India will be very critical as we are now beginning to get the demographic dividend. However, as Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, has stated, 鈥淲e have to enhance our labour productivity as it is the lowest among the G20 nations.鈥澛�
This month, we have two great conferences: the Mumbai Redevelopment Summit on 11 June and the 5th Construction Technology Summit on 25 June. See you there!
