Chaitanya.MarpakwarMumbai: The BMC has received only two bids for the auction of its Municipal Testing Laboratory (MTL) plot in Worli. The BMC had last month floated a tender to auction the prime Worli plot for ‘commercial exploitation’. One of the two bidders is expected to be picked based on the highest price over the BMC base of Rs 455 crore. The opposition had demanded that the auction be stayed. City Congress president Varsha Gaikwad had said the BJP-ruled BMC is ‘gifting’ this plot to their favourite builders to construct a 5-star hotel on a BMC property. Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh had said that the BMC must formulate a policy for auctions after consultations with all party group leaders in the BMC to avoid such ad hoc auctions. So far, the BMC has not paid heed to these demands and has gone ahead with its auction plans, Shaikh said.“Two bids were received from Skylark Buildcon Private Limited and Skystead Constructions LLP. The law department has reviewed all the documents submitted by the bidders regarding their title, registration with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs or the competent authority, litigation history, etc. On scrutiny of the documents, two bidders — Skylark Buildcon Private Limited & Skystead Constructions LLP — are found responsive,” said a senior civic official.The bids were scrutinised by the BMC committee led by joint municipal commissioner (improvements) Sanjog Kabre. The price bids will be opened this week. Several companies had taken part in the pre-bid meeting but eventually only two bids were submitted.Gaikwad alleged the builders were giving the BMC only Rs 455 crore in return and just 1300 sq mtrs of space for its lab. “BMC must stop this auction immediately. The auction conditions have been rigged to suit only particular favourite builders who want to gulp this plot and make windfall profits through the 5-star hotel. There needs to be a debate on auctioning BMC properties before the BMC Group Leaders. Ad hoc auctioning of prime BMC properties must be stopped immediately. This is a multi-crore scam,” Gaikwad said in a post on X.The auction plan was approved by then Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani days before he retired on March 31.Shaikh alleged that the eligibility condition requiring previous experience in redeveloping three BMC properties in the last 10 years is restrictive and drafted to ‘gift’ the plot to select favourite builders of the BJP.The plot is spread across 5,166 sq mt and falls in a residential zone.After winning the auction, builders can construct residential or commercial towers on the plot. The BMC has cancelled tenders for the redevelopment of the plot that houses its testing lab three times following allegations of cost escalation and irregularities. In all three tenders, the BMC unveiled its plan to build a multi-story robotic parking tower on the plot along with commercial units, but now it has decided to auction the plot for a base price of Rs 455 crore for 30 years, which will be extendable for another 30 years. Apart from the premium the builder pays the BMC, the developer will have to construct and hand over 1,300 sq mt of office space to BMC for its testing lab. The builder will also have to make a temporary arrangement for a testing lab till the new office space is ready.
