Mumbai: Manori desalination project tender date extended again

The BMC had allocated R200 crore to the project in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 budgets

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) extended the deadline for tender submission for its ambitious desalination project. The civic body issued a tender notice on December 4 to set up a desalination plant at Manori with a capacity to produce 200 million litres of potable water per day.

The deadline for submitting tenders was January 4, 2024, but the BMC extended it by three weeks to January 29. "We extended the date to February 17 at the request of a few prospective bidders. They needed time to submit papers on technical details," said a civic official.

The civic body has allocated Rs 350 crore for the project whose total cost is Rs 3,520 crore for 2024-25.

The BMC hopes the project will increase the water supply to the city as another project, the Gargai dam, which is expected to have a capacity of 400 million litres per day (MLD), only exists on paper due to various environmental issues. The BMC proposed the allocation of 10 per cent of the project cost in the next financial year to fast-track the work, but the tender process is yet to be completed. Even if the civic body receives bids by the new deadline, giving a work order will take another four to six months. The project will take at least four years to be completed.

Not much progress

The BMC had allocated Rs 200 crore to the project in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 budgets. It appointed IDE Water Technologies Ltd, an Israeli company, in February 2021 to prepare a detailed proposal. Later, in January 2022, the civic body engaged M/s SMEC India to evaluate the study and designs prepared by the Israeli firm. The BMC had set aside Rs 200 crore for the project in its budget for 2022-23 with the bids supposed to be initiated by August 2022 via a global tendering system. The report, which was supposed to be ready by June 2022, was submitted in the third week of November 2022. Then the BMC took its time to evaluate the report and issue a tender notice.

Currently, the city receives 3,850 MLD water from seven lakes. The desalination project's 200 MLD capacity can be later expanded to 400 MLD. Apart from construction, it would incur heavy expenses for electricity, maintenance and asset replacement for the next 20 years. It is estimated that over 20 years, the project would cost Rs 8,500 crore.

Rs 3,520cr
Total cost of project