Govt stalls Delhi MRTS project

A series of high-level meetings have been held in the two ministries and officials say the BJP Government expects to save 8220;thousands8221; of crores by redesigning construction of the MRTS. The two phases of the MRTS 198.5 km in all are estimated to cost Rs 22,000 crore. For the first phase, 56 per cent of the funds are to come as a soft loan from the Japanese Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund OECF, with the Delhi Government and the Urban Affairs Ministry to share the remaining cost.

But all major decisions on the MRTS have been brought to a grinding halt by the Urban Affairs Minister,Ram Jethmalani. On July 6, Jethmalani8217;s office issued instructions that 8220;no further decisions8221; would be taken on the MRTS without his approval. He then confronted officials in the Ministry about awarding of the General Constancy contract worth Rs 208 crore to the consortium led by the Japanese firm, Pacific Consultants International PCI of which the Rail India Technical and Economic Services RITES is part.

This is the largest consultancy contract entered for any infrastructure project in India and, sources say, Jethmalani grounded it because of the apparent 8220;secrecy8221; with which the tendering was decided in favour of PCI-RITES on May 29.

Once the controversy broke, Ministry officials took the plea that the tenders had been decided on the basis of a 8220;secret criterion8221; and that bids of two other consortia, the Tonichi Engineering Services TONICHI and the Japanese Railway technical Services JARTS need not have been opened.

Jethmalani then questioned how PCI-RITES had reduced their original bidof Rs 440 crore to Rs 208 crore and how they had been allowed to reduce the 8220;scope8221; of the contract from 14,000 man-months to just 8,000 man-months.

Following the July 6 8220;stalling8221; order, Jethmalani postponed a meeting of the Empowered Committee, which was to be chaired by Cabinet Secretary, Prabhat Kumar and was to clear the Rs 208 crore consultancy contract.

Jethmalani told The Indian Express: 8220;The awarding of tenders has to be a fair and constitutional process and my conscience did not allow me to sign agreements for hundreds of crores without examining the files. The whole outlay and scope of the MRTS is undergoing a change.8221;

Sources say that almost at the same time when the controversy over tenders bogged down the project in the Urban Affairs Ministry, a major redrafting exercise began in the Ministry of Railways and the Delhi Government. During meetings, the terms of the OECF loan and the suggestion for building the MRTS on standard gauge tracks not used in India came in forcriticism.

On July 21, a joint meeting was held in Jethmalani8217;s office during which it was decided that the Railway Ministry would strengthen the existing routes of Delhi8217;s Ring Railway and that routes overlapping the MRTS would be scrapped. The Railway Ministry, sources say, have agreed to spend around Rs 1,500 crore for augmenting infrastructure and for strengthening the routes of the Ring Railway.

Delhi8217;s Chief Minister, Sahib Singh Verma also admitted that an overhaul of the MRTS project was in the offing and that the Delhi Transport Minister, Rajendra Gupta was interested in making major changes in structure and scope. 8220;We have held a series of meetings and some major changes are to be announced,8221; the Chief Minister said. 8220;But the changes will not affect the speed and deadline for completing the MRTS.8221;