Vijayawada: The Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government appears to be in no mood to heed the advice of the Centre on the issue of reverse tendering of Polavaram project works. The state government argued that reverse tendering will not delay Polavaram works. It expressed confidence in getting competitive bids and avoiding any financial burden, fears raised by the Polavaram Project Authority.
The state government, in a two-page reply to the Polavaram Project Author-ity (PPA), reiterated that works awarded to the Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd., (NECL), to execute the Polavaram project works were in violation of the EPC agreements, and hence it was in the right to terminate the contracts and pre-close the tenders.
The reply accessed by Deccan Chronicle has 19 points, and puts the government’s view that as of now there is no work available due to floods in the Godavari river and the works would begin at the earliest by November.
The state government’s decision to pre-close tenders, terminating the NECL contract for executing the Polvaram works and calling for reverse tendering has sparked a controversy, with both the Centre and the PPA red-flagging these decisions.
The PPA had advised the state to abandon these decisions until the Centre takes a view on it. However, notw-ithstanding the PPA’s advice, the AP government went ahead and issued a notification calling for fresh tenders for Polavaram works. The reply to PPA assumes significance in this backdrop.
The decision to pre-close Polavaram tenders were based on observations by an expert committee appointed to review engineering works awarded by the TD government.
