Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Company Limited bags contract to clear Deonar dumping ground

Indian Express

4 hours ago

Two months after floating a Rs 2,368 crore tender to clear the existing mounds of untreated legacy waste through bio-remediation from the Deonar dumping ground in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday finalised Hyderabad based firm Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NECL) as the winning bidder for the project. The NECL will be awarded the project at 7.29% above the estimated cost, as a result the cost of the project now stands at Rs 2,540 crore.
The BMC's move to clear the dumpsite came months after the state government in October last year allocated a 124-acre portion of the larger 311-acre Deonar landfill for constructing housing tenements for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP)–a project spearheaded by the Adani Group and the state government's Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)–Navbharat Mega Developers Private Limited (NMDPL)–where the Adani Properties Private Limited (APPL) holds 80% of the share and remaining 20% is with SRA. In its tender document the BMC had mentioned that 110 hectares or 271-acre portion of the land will be cleaned as part of this project.
Earlier in 2020, the NECL and Adani had entered into a 74:26 joint venture with the latter holding the maximum stake for constructing the 47.8 km long Vijayawada Bypass. For this project, the two firms had also incorporated a new company–Vijayawada Bypass Project Private Limited (VBPPL).
Previously, the NECL has also bagged contracts for some major infrastructure projects in Mumbai including the extension of the Eastern Freeway from Mankhurd to Anand Nagar at a cost Rs 2,682 crore and the 13-km long Thane Coastal Road extending between Balkum and Gaimukh which is also being built at Rs 2,727 crore.
The NECL was also involved in the construction of the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi–a portion of which collapsed on November 2023 following which 41 construction workers remained trapped underneath for 16 days.
The BMC had floated the tender for clearing the Deonar dump-site on May 14. However, the deadline of the project got pushed three times. On July 4, three firms including Navayuga, HG Infra Engineering Limited and RE Sustainability emerged as the final shortlisted bidders. According to the BMC's records, all the three firms had submitted quotations above the estimated price of Rs 2,368 crore set by the BMC authorities.
While Navayuga quoted 7.29% above the estimated price, HG Infra quoted 11.53% above the price and RE Sustainability quoted 24.8% above the estimated price.
Civic officials said that considering Navayuga was the lowest bidder among the three, they were shortlisted and the final work order will be awarded at Rs 2,540 crore which will be 7.29% above the estimated cost of Rs 2,368 crore.
'Almost all the companies who were present in the pre-bid meeting had raised their concerns on the complexities of this project. For example, the entire dump-site needs to be cleared within three years and the same will require immense deployment of logistics. As a result, all of them had submitted quotations over the estimated price. Still the final price was selected on the basis of competitive market rates,' said an official.
According to the BMC's projections in order to clean up the facility in three years, the BMC will have to process a minimum of 23,000 MT of the legacy waste every day that is present in the dumpsite. This is nearly four times more than the quantum of waste entire Mumbai generates on a daily basis. Civic officials also said that to transport the waste residues that will be generated post bio-remediation of such a large pile of solid waste, at least 1,200 trucks will be needed to be deployed into action every day.
'Besides logistical challenges, there is also a natural obstacle that we have to encounter. In Mumbai, there is a monsoon for every four months and during this period bio-remediation cannot take place. In three years, there will be three monsoon seasons which equates to 12 months–during which there won't be any progress for 12 months. As a result, the window of operation is 36 months only,' the official added.
The officials also maintained that a key challenge is securing permission from multiple state departments before going ahead with the cleaning work. The dumpsite stands adjoining the Vashi Creek which falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). Meanwhile, the banks of the creeks have mangrove patches and nurseries whose jurisdiction falls under the state environment department.