India’s High Commissioner to Guyana Dr K J Srinivasa today clarified that the company that entered the winning bid for the Ogle to Eccles four-lane highway had offered a 5% discount within its bid and this therefore made it the lowest bidder for the project and not the highest as reported in today’s Sunday Stabroek.
The Sunday Stabroek had reported based on the figures available to it that Ashoka Construction Company had bid the highest. The newspaper had not been advised of the 5% discount prior to publication of the news item.
Ashoka Construction Company and two other Indian companies – Afcons and Dineshchandra R. Agrawal Infracon Pvt. Ltd (DRAIPL) – had tendered for the project, which is being financed through a line of credit from the Indian Exim Bank.
While the engineer’s estimate pegged the project at US$48.6 million, all the bids were twice the projected cost. The bids submitted were Afcons – US$108,054,358; Ashoka – US$111,976,119; and DRAIPL – US$106,775,275.
During an interview with Stabroek News on Friday, High Commissioner Srinivasa said that the tender has been awarded and the project is about to move into the next phase.
“So the tendering has been done [and the] company called Ashoka Buildcon has been, you know, selected and I think the process is on to start the formalities to sign the agreement. They [Ashoka] tendered about $106 million or something for their bid and it’s a US$50 million from the Government of India but the rest will have to be done by the Government of Guyana,” he said.
He added that the company has already accepted the award.
The tenders were opened in December last year.
According to the company’s website, it is a full-service contractor and industry leader, with the expertise to execute any scale of project within a limited time span. It boasts over 35 years of experience on some of India’s most challenging and complex projects.
“We have earned our reputation as one of the most experienced, innovative, and quality-driven contractors in India, with over 40 years of service in the civil construction industry,” the website states.
The company’s website adds that it has sustained success through the strength and expertise of its people, providing innovative construction solutions to complex infrastructure projects across PAN India, especially in Uttar Pradesh. “Whatever your project is, we have the expertise to do it through our various contracting modes including general contracting/bid-build, CM/GC, design-build, design-bid-build, and public-private partnerships. Our greatest competitive advantage is the expertise and passion of our people. We are motivated to achieve the elements needed to provide project success and build structures and roadways that will leave a lasting impression for our clients, our society, and our communities.”
Ashoka says that apart from emerging as a leader in the construction of roads and bridges, it is also a major player in India’s railway industry, having constructed several railway stations.
Afcons is described as one of the fastest-growing infrastructural companies in India and boasts a portfolio of taking on extremely challenging and complex projects. The company operates in the areas of marine and industrial infrastructure, surface transport, oil and gas, hydro, and underground infrastructure and urban infrastructure.
Meanwhile, DRAIPL has been operating for over four decades and spearheaded its way into the infrastructure sector of India. Described as one of the top construction companies of India, it also boasts a strong workforce of 4000-plus professionals and state-of-the-art information technology. The company’s portfolio states that they have been executing projects in the sectors such as roads and highways, aviation, railway and metro-rail, water supply and waste management, smart cities and urban development, bridges and flyovers, among others.
During a visit to India in January 2015, then President Donald Ramotar had received a US$50 million loan commitment from the Indian Exim Bank to fund the road project.
After taking office in 2020, the PPP/C-led government amended the design of the proposed Ogle to Diamond bypass road to bring the project costs in line with the funds made available by the Indian government.
The initial bids were expected to be submitted by August last year by four Indian companies that were pre-qualified by the Government of India to tender for the project. This resulted in the project having to retender.
The Indian government had to be re-engaged and Guyana was given the approval to retender the project. Under the project, the first phase of the road is to be constructed from Ogle, East Coast Demerara, to Haags Bosch on the East Bank of Demerara and will later have a connection to Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
