L&T moves SC to halt bidding on Rs 14,000 cr Maharashtra tunnel project
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Larsen & Toubro on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the opening of the financial bids for the Rs 14,000-crore Thane-Ghodbunder to Bhayander tunnel and elevated road projects in Maharashtra On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court while rejecting Larsen & Toubro Ltd's petition for stay had asked the Authority to preserve the price bids that were submitted electronically in the tender for two weeks so as to allow the infra company to appeal to the Supreme Court.The two mega infrastructure projects undertaken by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority ( MMRDA )will link Thane and Mira-Bhayandar through a five km long twin tunnels of 14.6 metres diameter from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel junction at Shilphata worth Rs 8000 crore, and an elevated creek road bridge of 9.8 km worth Rs 6,000, will connect Bhayandar to Ghodbunder Road in Thane. The proposed bridge would be the second-largest in the region after the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, also known as Atal Setu.L&T in its appeal told the SC that it had not been informed about the status of its bids and it came to know about its disqualification only during the hearing of the petition on May 13. "The actions of MMRDA reek of malafide and are in contravention to the principle of natural justice and defeat the L&T's legitimate expectation to be fairly and can not be sustained,' the appeal filed through counsel Raunak Dhillon stated.The SC will hear the matter on Friday.According to the appeal, there is a duty imposed on the Authority to adopt a procedure which is 'fair play in action.' The HC order 'fails to set-aside the unlawful and arbitrary tender process carried out by the respondents despite coming to a categorical finding that the tender conditions were prima facie in breach of the guidelines issued by the Public Works Department, Maharashtra as well as the Central Vigilance Commission, Dhillon stated.L&T was one of the bidders for the project and had submitted its technical bid in December. Since then, it had been waiting for the outcome. Recently, it learnt that the Authority had sent letters to some bidders to remain present for opening of the financial bids on May 13. However, L&T did not receive any such intimation, it alleged.
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