Against the earlier estimate of ₹622 crore, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) will now have to spend ₹709 crore, bearing a rise of 14% for erecting the ambitious Ambedkar memorial at Indu Mills, Dadar.
The planning authority received only one bidder, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, who had quoted 26% more than the estimated cost. The tender has been floating twice before the authority had the bid.
Negotiations to bring down the cost have been going on in the past two weeks by the officials.The project has suffered cost escalations as a result of delays. In a year, the project has seen a variation of ₹200 crore, as the anticipated cost was ₹500 crore in 2016 which was later revised to ₹550 crore when the bids were floated for the first time.
Dilip Kawathkar, joint projects director of MMRDA, has told the media that they are not going for another bidding and the final approval for awarding the project will be granted by the executive committee.
The groundwork is expected to start from next month once it is approved as told by CM Devendra Fadnavis On December 6, after paying tributes to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on his death anniversary at Chaityabhoomi.
The memorial will be constructed on 12 acres of land at Indu Mills in Dadar, which is very close to Chaityabhoomi and include a 350-foot statue of Dr Ambedkar, a library, a replica of the historic Chavdar pond in Raigad, a number of viewing points for the memorial and a parking lot.
The National Textiles Corporation (NTC) officially handed over possession of the Indu Mill land to the state in earlier this year in March
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