JICA rejects bidder for Rs 289.19 crore Nagpur sewer tender, stalling Nag river project

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation had floated a tender worth Rs 289.19 crore to build and rehabilitate the sewer network in the city's Central Zone. The tender has now run into trouble. It has emerged that JICA, Japan's financial assistance agency, has not approved the capacity of the company that took part in the tender.

The work is to be carried out under Package CP-4. Its aim is to modernise and expand the city's sewerage infrastructure so as to improve efficiency and environmental sustainability. The target was to complete the entire work in 30 months.

The scheme is part of the corporation's major push to strengthen the city's urban infrastructure and improve sanitation standards. It was expected that, once the work was done, the upgraded sewer system would substantially increase the city's capacity to handle sewage.

As planned, the corporation invited tenders and sent them for technical approval to JICA, the Japanese agency financing the project. However, the capacity of the company that bid was rejected outright. Sources said the project has now been stalled for some time.

More than a decade has passed since the Nag river rejuvenation project was announced. Experts say the real work has not yet begun. Some surveys are being carried out by Tata Consultancy as part of the survey work, but the project is not moving beyond surveys.

Despite the city having a powerful leader, the entire project being under their charge and financial approval having been secured, the project is moving at a snail's pace. It is possible that completing it may take decades.

It is also surprising that for this project, worth thousands of crores, the corporation has recently received only Rs 68 crore.