On Wednesday, September 16, 2020, the financial bids opened for the construction project of the new Parliament complex. Tata Projects Limited came out to quote a bid of Rs. 861.90 crores for the tender, which makes them the lower of the two bidders.

As per the tender by the Central Public Work Department (CPWD), the evaluated cost for the construction of the new Parliament complex is Rs. 889 crores. Apart from Tata Projects Limited, the other bidder was Larsen &Toubro (L&T) Limited, that quoted a bid of Rs. 865 crores.

Both the companies had submitted their bids after being selected in the technical round for the tender. According to a statement given by a spokesperson for Tata Projects, the company is likely to get the contract as it came out to be the lowest bidder. No statement has yet been made by L&T Projects.

A senior government official said that only three parties technically pre-qualified in the first round and only two have quoted their bids today. The firm that wins the contract will be issued a letter of award within a few days. A second official added to this that they have to go through the due process of evaluation of the bids thoroughly and award a letter of contract only after that.

The firm which wins the bid is decided and finalized only after they receive a letter of award, in infrastructure projects. The letter of award is a written confirmation that guarantees that the tenderer will be awarded and is successful in getting the contract. The details included in this award are the date of the award, information on when the contract shall be signed, and the amount of the award.

The three Mumbai-based companies that were finalized in the list of choices for the new Parliament Complex construction included – Tata Projects, Larsen & Toubro, and Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Private Limited. The list was finalized after disqualifying four other such companies.

The companies that got disqualified from the technical round by the CPWD were – Hyderabad-headquartered NCC Limited, Uttar Pradesh state government’s UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam Limited, PSP Projects Limited of Ahmedabad, and Mumbai-based construction and civil engineering company ITD Cementation India Limited.

They were eliminated from this round for not meeting the eligibility criteria as mentioned in the bid document. This criterion required the company to have constructed an assembly hall that included a basement and had the capacity of holding up to at least 1,000 people. Other than this, some other criteria rules were based on the average monthly turnover, ongoing projects, and the net worth of the company.

As stated in the bid document, the construction work of this new Parliament complex is very prestigious and should be strictly completed within the time of 21 months, having a high standard of workmanship. Another specification provided in the document included that at least 50% of the workers should be skilled in carving, fresco, and stone masonry. In the view of the Covid-19 pandemic, appropriate health and safety measures should also be followed strictly.

The construction work is set to begin once the monsoon session ends. The expected design of this new Parliament Complex is to be a triangular-shaped two-story building with a ground floor. As per the latest design for this construction, the National Emblem is likely to be placed at the top of this new building.
This new building will be coming up on the 118th plot number of the Parliament House Estate, where the reception, boundary walls, and some other temporary structures are situated. The building is expected to cover an area of 60,000 square meters.