Vijayawada: The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), in its 39th meeting held on Monday, approved the recommendations made by the expert committee comprising of chief engineers on existing contracts and how to restart the works of capital Amaravati. Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu chaired the meeting, which was attended by municipal administration and urban development minister P Narayana and finance minister Payyavula Keshav, besides officials from the respective departments.
Narayana said the committee has suggested the closing of all existing contracts that have become null and void as the time period has expired. He said the process of closing of contracts will be completed by Dec 31, and new tenders will be called for resumption of works. Calling the exercise a crucial step in restarting of Amaravati works, he said the previous govt completely neglected Amaravati in the name of three capitals. “Their commissions and omissions created several hurdles in developing the state’s new capital. We cleared all hurdles, and the closure of existing contracts is the final step in that process,” he said.
CRDA is planning to invite fresh bids for various works to be taken up in Amaravati. Narayana said the state govt is committed to develop Amaravati as “one of the best among the top five cities in the world”. As soon as the closure of existing contracts is completed, tenders will be awarded for resuming the capital city works, he said.
The minister further mentioned that the contracting agencies had submitted bank guarantees to the govt. At the same time, the govt paid advances for the works done and those to be done. “CRDA will derive a formula to calculate the amount to be paid to the agencies after deducting the advances paid and adjusting bank guarantees based on the proportionate works done. CRDA called tenders for works to the tune of 41,000 crore during the earlier tenure of TDP, out of which tenders worth 38,800 crore were allotted. Now, fresh tenders will be called with revised cost estimates, and CRDA is likely to pay 600 crore to the agencies for the closure of all existing contracts,” Narayana explained.
