VMC’s Rs 171 crore PPP road project gets zero bids

Vijayawada: In a setback to the PPP model of infrastructure development, the proposed construction of 19 roads spanning 23.54 km at a cost of ₹171 crore drew zero bids, leaving Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) authorities dismayed.Under the City Roads Improvement Programme (CRIP), the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) had planned 110 km of priority urban corridors — 88.54 km in Visakhapatnam and 23.54 km in Vijayawada — costing ₹306.95 crore for GVMC and ₹171.14 crore for VMC, to be executed under the DBFOT-Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM)."Given the nil tender bids, the civic body will go for a second call of tenders. Before the second call, a meeting with contractors will be held to discuss and analyse the reasons for not taking part in the tendering process," VMC incharge chief engineer P Satya Kumari said.Asked about the reasons behind the lacklustre response from the contractors for the tenders, Satya Kumari commented that, given the civic body was executing the road development works under the PPP model, there may be some apprehensions regarding its development among contractors, which the civic body will allay by holding consultations with them.The official further said that the municipal corporations in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, two corporations, floated tenders for the PPP model of road development, and in both cities contractors did not take part in the tender process.In Vijayawada, the civic body floated tenders for developing 19 roads, which included BRP Road, KT Road, Kummaripalem, Sitara Centre to CVR Flyover, BRTS Road, Samba Murthy Road, GS Raju Road, Tikkle Road, Pinnamaneni Polyclinic Road and other important stretches across the three circles in the municipal corporation limits.