Updated 1 July 2020 at 11:27 IST
Bihar to retender 2 contracts of Patna bridge construction over Chinese investments
Bihar govt in consultation with Centre has cancelled contracts for the construction of a new bridge parallel to MG Setu, as those companies had Chinese partners
Amid growing anti-China sentiments and a massive move by the Indian government to ban 59 Chinese-origin mobile applications, Bihar government in consultation with Centre has cancelled two contracts for the construction of a new bridge parallel to Mahatma Gandhi Setu in its capital Patna, as it had Chinese investments. This comes in the aftermath of Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and a violent faceoff between militaries of both the countries at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred.
Out of the four contractors who were selected for the construction of a new bridge, two had Chinese companies as partners, and therefore the state government has cancelled their contracts, the state's Minister of Road Construction Nand Kishor Yadav informed, adding that fresh bidding for the same has begun. The Minister said that the contractors were asked to change their partners before the cancellation of the contracts, and when they stated their inability to do so, the state government took the decision to cancel their contract.
"Seven contractors had applied out of which three were disqualified, and out of the remaining four, two had Chinese companies as partners, so we asked them to change their partners but they couldn't, so we cancelled their tender. We have called for applications again on June 27, for which the last date is July 29," said Nand Kishore Yadav. "It is an important bridge, and if the participation of foreign countries increases, it can be harmful. This decision was made after a lot of thinking and that's why we have retendered," he added.
The project was cleared by the Union government's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year on December 16, 2019. The proposed bridge is to be built parallel to the Mahatma Gandhi Setu across the Ganga river and it will help the people of Patna, Saran and Vaishali districts.
Besides the main bridge, the project includes four vehicular underpasses, a rail overbridge, a 1.58-km-long viaduct, a flyover, four minor bridges, five bus shelters and 13 road junctions, they added. The construction period for the project has been decided as three-and-a-half years and is supposed to be completed by January, 2023.
Maharashtra stalls 3 Chinese Projects
The Maharashtra government in a major decision has put three big-ticket agreements involving the Chinese government on hold. The agreements were signed at the recent Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 investor meet at a proposed investment deal of over Rs. 5000 crore. The decision by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was taken after consultation with the Central government. The Centre has further advised the state government not to sign any agreements with Chinese companies, state Industries Minister Subhash Desai informed.
The virtual conference meet held last week was attended by Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong. The three Chinese agreements included a Rs 3,770-crore MoU with Great Wall (GWM) to set up an automobile plant in Talegaon near Pune. Further, PMI Electro Mobility in a joint venture with Foton (China) had announced a Rs 1,000-crore unit that would create 1,500 jobs, informed a government press release.
Other Chinese companies that made commitments for investment was Hengli Engineering, a Rs 250-crore investment as part of its phase II expansion at Talegaon, a project that would generate 150 jobs.
Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 was an effort by the Maharashtra govt to restart the economy, which is adversely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. A total of 12 agreements included companies from Singapore, South Korea, US besides several Indian companies, Desai informed. he further said that state government is actively processing the other nine MoUs.
Published By : Navashree Nandini
Published On: 1 July 2020 at 11:27 IST