MMRDA ups ante, 10 bids check in

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s dream of setting up a science and technology innovation park may soon turn into reality. The project got a major boost on Tuesday when as many as 10 companies submitted their bids for it.

Interestingly, the companies have shown interest in the project only after the MMRDA released a corrigendum stating that the innovation park need not necessarily come up within the metropolitan region. This was done as the park, which will be constructed at a cost of Rs5,000 crore, will need close of 5,000 acres of land. There are concerns about availability of such a big plot of land in the metropolitan region.

According to senior MMRDA officials, premier construction companies like DSK, HCC (Lavasa city), Mahindra Life Space, India Bulls and Ackruti City have submitted their bids. MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar confirmed that the authority’s decision to modify the tenders has yielded them rich dividends. “We made a slight modification in the tender condition about land holding of interested companies. We are happy that we have got such a good response,” Kawathkar said.