Nagpur: The ‘Rs 50 Crore Amrut Water Supply Scheme Tender’ continues to be intriguing due to the involvement of officials from Kalmeshwar-Bramhani Municipal Council and Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran. While the process of the second tender is ongoing, the Kalmeshwar-Bramhani Municipal Council has floated a third tender call for the same project, raising objections.
While officials support the third tender call, stating that only one candidate remains after disqualifying the other two due to the same proprietorship, government officials seem to have intentionally overlooked the fourth applicant!
According to available details, the Kalmeshwar-Bramhani Municipal Council floated a tender for an approximately Rs 50 crore water supply scheme in the first week of May 2023. Initially, six firms submitted bids for the tender. However, after technical evaluation, three firms were removed from the list, leaving only three firms – Laxmi Engineering, Swastik Construction (both from Kolhapur), and Central India. In due course, M/s Samrudhi Infra Projects challenged their disqualification in the High Court. Following this, the HC reinstated them in the tender race.
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Monday 31March 2025
Both Tender Calls Are Live!
Both Tender Calls Are Live!
An order to cancel the tender call was issued to Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) and Kalmeshwar-Bramhani Municipal Council on June 17, citing the reason for disqualification as the same ownership in two companies bidding for the same tender. This was followed by a second round of tender call where, once again, the disqualified firms from Kolhapur with the same owner attempted to re-enter the race but failed, leaving only two firms in the tender race.
The tender process was nearing its conclusion, but suddenly the Kalmeshwar-Bramhani Municipal Council floated a third tender call for the ‘Rs 50 Crore Amrut Water Supply Scheme’.
When seeking an explanation, Rameshwar Pandagale, Chief Officer (CO) of Kalmeshwar-Bramhani Municipal Council, informed Nagpur Today that, since only one applicant remained in the tender process, they were compelled to float the tender call for the third time.
“Since the two Kolhapur-based firms were disqualified, there was only one Central India Firm left in the tender race, which is why we floated the third tender call,” he said and added that, “We can only conclude the tender with one applicant if it’s the third call; in the second tender call, we can’t conclude it with just one candidate,” he said.
However, what appears ironic is that the CO of Kalmeshwar-Bramhani Municipal Council may have deliberately overlooked M/s Samrudhi Infra Projects, another prime candidate in the tender race.
When contacted M/s Samrudhi Infra Projects, they informed Nagpur Today that they have not received any disqualification letter from both Kalmeshwar-Bramhani Municipal Council and Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran, so they can’t be pulled out of the tender race.
When questioned about this, the CO of Kalmeshwar-Bramhani Municipal Council directed us to Rajendra Katpalliwar, Chief Engineer, Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran.
Upon contacting Katpalliwar, he stated that since the tender was issued by the Kalmeshwar-Bramhani Municipal Council, the CO is the only responsible person to discuss this issue.
It is pertinent to mention that the role of a Member of Parliament (MP) is under scrutiny in this connection, as the MP has already faced allegations of receiving ‘commission’ in exchange for awarding the construction tender. The abrupt replies of officials involved also give a sense that something fishy is occurring in the ‘Rs 50 Crore Amrut Water Supply Scheme Tender’.
– Shubham Nagdeve
