MUMBAI, November 14: Finish early and collect Rs 1 lakh as cash award per day, finish late and pay up Rs 1.5 lakh as penalty each day.Penalties for delays, cash awards for an early completion, advances for machinery and equipment are some of the features offered by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to evoke a keen sense of interest in contractors vying for the ambitious 55 flyover projects in the city.Also, on the anvil, through an amendment to the Development Control rules for municipal corporations in the state, are shopping complexes, parking lots and offices under flyover bridges and road over-bridges, in order to make them more attractive for private enterprise. And, the results seems to be favorable.On Tuesday, MSRDC finalised offers for five flyovers in the city - at Aarey in Goregaon, Sion, CST, Vashi and the Chembur-Mankhurd link road - all the quotations for which were eight to ten per cent below estimates. There could, however, be another reason apart from the incentives offered by the corporation. ``The general recession in the market too might have attracted them,'' explained P L Bongirwar, joint managing director of MSRDC. Taking on a responsible attitude, the MSRDC has also promised a 15 per cent interest on delays in clearing bills.Besides, it is offering a ten per cent machinery and mobilisation advance, along with reimbursing any octroi or central excise duty on ready mix concrete and precast girders, both of which are being insisted upon by the government.``The results are for all to see. In fact, because of the incentive scheme, work worth about Rs six crore was completed in 15 to 20 days at the Konkan Bhavan flyover,'' said Minister for Public Works Nitin Gadkari.In yet another bold move, the Public Works Department has changed the outdated construction codes for flyovers where the loading standards of slabs have been changed and the minimum dimensions relaxed. ``Some of these changes have also been responsible for reducing their overhead charges,'' said Bongirwar. There are not many contractors who are taken in by the administration, though. ``Well, mobilisation and machinery advances are a regular feature of any contract, only in this case, the government is making a noise about it,'' said a contractor, on conditions of anonymity. With each contractor given freedom to design his own flyover, of course on approval by the department, it is feared that lower specifications of construction would be put forward by contractors quoting lower estimates to reach the economies of scale.``We have a competent team of quality inspectors, there does not seem to be any scope for such a development,'' asserted Gadkari adding that the flyovers would be of international quality.Then there is the financial crunch that every state government body is facing today. With Gadkari as yet being unable to delineate how exactly he would be going about financing the project, contractors are sceptical about the perks offered. ``Where is the government going to get money from to pay as incentives or even pay the 15 per cent interest rates?'' asked another contractor. ``All we can say is wait and watch,'' he added.
