M/S RKD Construction Piped Four National Giants to bag Bhubaneswar Smart City Janapath Project

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s RKD Constructions Pvt. Ltd. has bagged the Bhubneswar Smart City Janapath Development project pipping national giants like ShapoorjiPallonji & Co. Ltd., BIL Infratech Ltd in association with P&CProject Pvt. Ltd., MFAR ConstructionsPvt. Ltd. and NCC Ltd.

The Board of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) Friday approved the L1 bidder M/S RKD Construction Pvt. Ltd. for implementation of the Smart Janpath Project for redevelopment of Janpath Road including streetscape design, beautification, landscaping, intersection redesign and infrastructure upgrades in Bhubaneswar’s Town Centre District (BTCD) under Smart Cities Mission on Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) mode.

While the tender for the project was published on January 19, 2017, the Pre-bid meeting was held on February 23. Thereafter, BSCL received queries from nine prospective bidders and the last date of submission of proposal was May 15.

While the last date of submission of proposals through online was 15^th May’ 2017, for hard copy submission the date was19^th May’ 2017. The technical proposals were opened on 20^th May’ 2017 and five bids were received. They were: MFAR ConstructionsPvt. Ltd., RKD Construction (P) Ltd., ShapoorjiPallonjiand Co. Ltd., BILInfratech Ltd in association with P&CProject Pvt. Ltd., and NCC Ltd.

The Scrutiny Committee meeting was held on 13^th June’ 2017 for scrutinizing thetechnical proposals. The committee observed that two bidders NCCLimited, and M/s. RKD Constructions (P) Ltd fulfilled all the qualifyingrequirements mentioned in the RFP.The Technical Evaluation Committee deliberated in detail the technical presentations made by the bidders on 25^th July’ 2017. The meeting was held under theChairmanship of GM (E&T). The proceedings of the Scrutiny Committee were placed before the Tender Committee.

The Tender Committee meeting which was held under the chairmanship of Managing Director, BSCL on 25^th July’ 2017, had a detailed discussion and recommended the financial quotationof M/s. RKD Construction (P) Ltd, which was less than thecorresponding tender and was found to be the L-1 bidderand was placed before the Company Board for its acceptance.

The Rohit Kumar Das’ RKD Constructions had executed several high value projects in the state and other parts of the country.

Janpath Streetscape project has been conceived as a part of  Bhubaneswar Smart City Proposal. This project mainly focuses on transforming thecity’s existing roadway from an automobile-oriented design to a street that is designedto provide safe, comfortable and convenient access for a complete set of users and atthe same time creating more active spaces for people to walk and gather.

Janpath provides anurban design opportunity for such development due to its width or theright of way (RoW) and under-utilized spaces along the streets. While the entire road stretch is of 5.5 km from VaniVihar to SishuBhawan Square the project also includes a 0.3 km-long road from Master Canteen to Bhubaneswar Railway Station. So the total length of the project is of 5.8 km.

It can be mentioned here that while the average RoW varies between 35 m and 65 m, vehicular movement is permitted in 21 metres including the median of 2 metres. The balanced width of the road or the RoW is to be utilised for pedestrian movement, cycle lane, parking ofvehicles, landscaping, utility corridors, activity spaces including vendor kiosks etc and the estimated cost of the project is around Rs 80.50 crore. The work will be completed within 24 months from the starting of the work of the project.