Jayant Patil alleges corruption in Pune bypass tender process

Poona: Jayant Patil, state president of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), has alleged that the Pune Ring Road project was awarded at around Rs 60 billion above the standard rates due to collusion between contractors and the state government.

The accusation was made during a victory rally organised by the party’s Pimpri-Chinchwad unit at the New Maharashtra College premises in Pimpri.

In the presence of senior leader Sharad Pawar, Patil accused the state government of widespread corruption, citing a number of projects, including the Pune Ring Road, which he alleged were awarded to contractors at a significantly higher rate.

He indicated that the tender, which was originally estimated at Rs 16,618 crore, was approved for Rs 22,799 crore, in favour of companies that have donated to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Patil also criticized the government’s practices of taking bribes from contractors and collecting them from citizens through tolls. He wondered why investigations into certain individuals within the government had been stopped.

Former State Minister Madhavrao Kinhalkar joined the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) and quit the BJP. The event also confirmed the arrival of NCP city president Ajit Gavhane and his associates, who were welcomed at the event.

The state government’s ambitious project, aimed at easing traffic congestion in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, involves the construction of a 127-km-long, 110-metre-wide ring road. The project is divided into two phases: East and West.

The MSRDC initiated the tender process and divided the work into nine packages. Twelve companies submitted bids, with the tenders being opened in Mumbai. Megha Engineering and Navayuga Engineering emerged as the lowest bidders for three packages each, while PMC Infra, Roadway Solution India Infra and GR Infra secured one package each.

Concerns were raised because some of the companies involved were linked to the alleged electoral bonds scam and had submitted bids at inflated rates. The bids received were 40-50% higher than the original estimates, which significantly increased the cost of the project.