Maharashtra Govt Scraps ₹80-Billion Tender After L&T Plea; SC Closes Case

In relief to Larsen & Toubro Ltd., the Maharashtra government has scrapped the ₹80-billion tender for a project to design and build an underground road tunnel from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel Junction on the Thane-Ghodbunder road, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority told the Supreme Court.

The decision came after L&T approached the top court, seeking a stay on the opening of financial bids. A bench led by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai disposed of the petition as infructuous, noting the tender process had been scrapped “in larger public interest”.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had asked the authority whether a re-tender could be issued, observing, “This is thousands of crores of public money… Else, we will stay this order (of Bombay High Court).”

Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court had dismissed L&T’s plea for a stay, calling the project a “mega infrastructure” initiative of public importance and saying that delays would hurt its execution. The court said L&T would suffer no prejudice as long as its rights to challenge the rejection of its technical bid and the award of the contract were preserved.

L&T had submitted its technical bid in December and was awaiting evaluation when it learnt that the authority had invited some bidders to attend the opening of financial bids on May 13. However, the company received no such intimation and was not informed about the result of its bid.

It alleged the authority had acted in a discriminatory and arbitrary manner and failed to observe natural justice by not informing it of the outcome before proceeding with financial bids.