Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The CAG report has objected to the tender process for the newly built Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg (Kolar Road) in the state capital.
The contract for Kolar Road was given to M/S Bansal Constructions Works Private Limited.
When the organisation submitted the tender, it got the work for Rs 182.36 crore. The amount was 18.04% less than the PAC.
After starting the work, Bansal Constructions demanded Rs 23.84 crore against GST. The CAG report called the demand improper. Now, the court is hearing the case.
According to the CAG report, GST was included in the PAC. Before quoting the rates, the contractor should have included the GST in the tender.
The chief engineer of PWD did not properly evaluate the rates and accepted the contractor’s L1 rates.
Afterwards, the construction company demanded GST. If the PWD officers had probed this aspect while they opened the rates, the tender of Bansal Constructions would have been cancelled.
In its report, CAG also mentioned that the cost of the contract worth Rs 182 crore increased to Rs 302 crore. The rates of tender were increased by 66%.
Against this backdrop, the organisation will demand GST on this huge amount.
The report also criticised the government. A committee set up by the government to deal with the case recommended giving GST on the basis of majority opinion. But the government said GST should not be paid.
According to CAG, if GST is paid, it is outside the peripheries of the bill of quantities in which the GST was included before the cost was estimated.
According to the report, the GST is included in the rates quoted by the contractors for the projects financed by the New Development Bank (NDB).
According to Bansal Constructions, the rates that they quoted did not consist of the GST.
According to them, the court is hearing the case in which the organisation demanded the GST.
