SHILLONG: The construction of a new Assembly building is in limbo as the Public Works Department is yet to call fresh tender.
After the old Assembly at Police Bazar was gutted by fire in January 2001, there were several attempts to construct a new building.
It was in November 2017 that the then Congress-led government decided to scrap the tender for construction of the new Assembly building at Mawdiangdiang citing that the selected bidder quoted less amount for the construction of the building.
An official source said on Saturday that the matter is pending with the Finance Department and only after clearance from various departments, including finance, that a fresh tender can be called.
There are also other hurdles, including the cutting of trees and flattening of the 80 acres of land at Mawdiangdiang meant for the building.
Earlier in 2017, PWD found that three firms — Simplex Infrastructure Pvt ltd, Gautam construction Pvt ltd and Shapoorji Pallonji Co. & Ltd — were qualified in the technical bidding.
The bid value was Rs 105 crore and Shapoorji Pallonji and Simplex Infrastructure quoted 29.92 per cent and 21.90 per cent more price than the bid value, respectively.
However, Gautam Construction quoted 15.01 per cent less than the bid value.
PWD later asked Gautam Construction to justify if it can complete the work within the quoted bid value and after analysing, the department suggested that the firm would not be able to complete the project considering the escalation of market value and impact of new taxes.
The High Power Committee had asked PWD to go for fresh tenders but in vain.
Later in April this year, the committee of the Meghalaya Assembly under the new NPP-led MDA regime had decided to float fresh tender with conditions.
As per the decision, the bidders who are interested in the project should have the experience of completing similar projects like Raj Bhavan, chief minister’s residence or any other government institutes.
The committee had also decided to raise the security deposit as the last bidder quoted a rate 15 per cent lower than the bid value.
The allocated budget for the new Assembly building was Rs 140 crore.
