Why MMRDA disqualified L&T's bid for Thane Elevated Road and Tunnel project.

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Why MMRDA disqualified L&T's bid for Thane Elevated Road and Tunnel project.

(Late post:for record)

The Supreme Court on Friday, May 30, accepted the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (MMRDA) decision to cancel the tender process for two high-value infrastructure projects worth ₹14,000 crore, stating that the move served the larger public interest.

The projects include the construction of a road tunnel between Gaimukh and Fountain Hotel Junction and an elevated road along the Thane–Ghodbunder corridor, critical components of Mumbai’s coastal road expansion.

While the ruling does not grant L&T the contracts it was vying for, it opens the door for a fresh tendering process. All existing bids, including that of L&T, now stand void.

L&T had challenged technical bid rejection citing lack of transparency

In July 2024, MMRDA had first invited bids for the mega infrastructure project, which included the ₹8,000 crore twin tunnel plan as part of a larger ₹14,000 crore project connecting Gaimukh to Bhayander.

 

The legal battle began after L&T raised concerns over a lack of transparency in the evaluation of its technical bid. The company submitted its bid on December 13, 2024, which was opened on January 1, 2025. However, it claimed it was never informed of the bid’s status nor invited to the opening of financial bids, unlike other participants.

L&T approached the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on the bid process, arguing the MMRDA had failed to follow principles of natural justice. The High Court, however, dismissed the plea on grounds that the projects were of significant public importance and delays would hinder progress. It did, however, allow L&T to challenge the rejection of its bid and the eventual contract award separately.

L&T escalated the matter to the Supreme Court.  Rest is now history.

MMRDA had refused to make public as to why they had disqualified L&T - till the bid was awarded to someone.

The bid was won by MEIL before Supreme Court intervention. But by that time it had come to light that there was a difference of Rs 3000 cr between MEIL and L&Ts bid.

Fadnavis reveals reason

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis finally broke the reason for L&Ts disqualification - stating that in a project in Telangana, executed by L&T, cracks had developed within 3 years of completion thus disqualifying them eligible for the Thane project.

What was that project? What had happened?

Read on..

Cracks developed in the Medigadda Barrage, a key component of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) in Telangana, which was constructed by L&T in 2023. Specifically, pillars of the barrage, including Pillar 19, sagged, and Pillar 20 and 21 developed cracks due to heavy inflows. 

A vigilance probe revealed flaws in the design, construction, and quality control during and after construction. L&T stated its commitment to restoring the damaged parts

The Larsen & Toubro (L&T) group, which executed the works on the multi-stage Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP)  assured the State government that it would take necessary action to rectify the damages on the Medigadda Barrage (Lakshmi Barrage) at the earliest.

In an official statement, the L&T spokesperson said at one of the locations of Block-7 of the Medigadda barrage, a bridge portion was observed to be sagging.

State officials, suspecting a conspiracy since there was very little possibility of inflows causing such damage, have already launched a probe into the incident. The L&T, in its statement, said its technical expert team was already deputed to the project site to assess the abrupt cause of the damages along with State authorities.

The company also offered a way forward solution for its restoration after completing the technical assessment of the damages.

The barrage experienced the highest recorded flood of 28.70 lakh cusecs as against the design discharge of 28.25 lakh cusecs in 2022-23. 

The barrage continued to operate safely and withstood even the unprecedented floods of July 2022. 

The L&T built the 1.632 km Lakshmi Barrage with 86 piers in 2019 and since then the Barrage had been in operation. It withstood for the last five flood seasons, including the 2023 flood season.

However, the Vigilance and Enforcement inquiry going on into the damage suffered on the Medigadda Barrage, a key component of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP), following sinking of about half-a-dozen piers on the evening of October 23 fixed the primary responsibility on L&T.

Aftermath

So this incident affected MMRDAs judgement of the company for the Thane bid and it disqualified L&T.

Friends, I leave it to you to decide whether you believe this reason of MMRDA. L&T - a company of such repute being disqualified on technical grounds!!

However, after Supreme Courts observations and MMRDAs decision to go for a re-tender, L&T gets a big respite.

- Dayanand Nene