Why pay contractor now for work that will start in October, asks Aaditya

Former state minister Aaditya Thackeray has written yet another letter to the BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal regarding work being undertaken by the BMC. This time, he has demanded that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation not pay Rs 650 crore to the contractor for road works as mobilisation advance right now, as that the work will start only in October. He further said that paying the money right now would lead to a Rs 30-crore loss to the BMC.

"If the work starts in October 2023 and the BMC gives the mobilisation advance right now, then the civic authority will lose the principal amount of Rs 650 crore. The basic interest of this amount is Rs 3.5 crore [per month]. Thus it will lose Rs 30 crore of interest till October," Thackeray wrote in the letter dated February 10. He added that the civic body should not pay 10 per cent of the total project cost to the contractor till the actual work starts.

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The former minister also wrote, "Cement concrete road construction is not a greenfield project and in fact, all roads are city roads. In this circumstance, one fails to understand why 10 per cent mobilisation advance is required." He has also demanded information regarding the current status of the project.

After the BMC decided to undertake a road repair project worth Rs 6,080 crore, Thackeray had written to the civic chief alleging a scam in the appointment of the contractor. This is his second letter to Chahal regarding the matter.

He had earlier alleged that two of the five companies were still negotiating their offers with BMC officials. Thackeray also asked whether the civic body had kept a "no-escalation" clause as the work orders were given unilaterally and the BMC also allowed contractors to rent machinery from others for the work.