Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam limited’s (SSNNl) much touted ‘Statue of Unity’ project has attracted two bids from larsen & Turbo (l&T) and a consortium of companies headed by JMC Projects (India) limited. But l&T’s bid seems to have run into troubled waters leaving the consortium of companies, the sole bidder for the construction of the world’s largest statue worth Rs 2,500 crore.
last year, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi had launched the project of constructing a 182 meter tall statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as a tribute to the ‘Iron Man of India’. For the construction of this Rs 2,500 crore statue, SSNNl had released tender documents, which companies could either purchase for Rs 30,000 or could also download from the official website for free. With the last date for submitting the bids being Wednesday, January 29, 2014, the companies which downloaded the tender document had to submit their bids along with a demand draft of Rs 30,000.
While explaining what went wrong with l&T’s bid, official sources said, “l&T had downloaded the tender document from the website and as per the guidelines they had to submit their bid along with the DD of Rs 30,000. The DD submitted by the company was three months outdated and thus is null and void. Since the DD is not valid now, SSNNl has, sources said, decided to reject l&T’s bid and thus left the consortium of companies led by JMC Projects India as the sole contender for the Rs 2,500 crore project.”
leading the consortium, JMC Projects (India) limited is a part of the Rs 7,000 crore Kalpataru group, which has been in the construction business for over three decades. The company posted an annual revenue of Rs 2,548.42 crore in FY13. The group till date has developed more than 80 landmarks around the world.
The consortium of companies also includes Hyderabad based Navayuga Group and Aerosun Corporation from China. Navayuga Group, one of the country’s fastest upcoming infrastructure company, has been involved in numerous projects including constructions of metro stations, ports and bridges. The group has its presence across the country and is also expanding its footprints in the US and Middle East.
Of the three members of the consortium, Aerosun Corporation is a company which specialises in statue building. The Chinese company has already constructed the 108 meter tall State of Guanyin in China’s island province of Hainan. The company also constructed the 34-meter-tall Tian Tan Buddha in Hong Kong which is the world’s tallest outdoor-seated bronze Buddha.
A project close to Narendra Modi’s heart, ‘Statue of Unity’ is being built in memory of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at the Sadhu-Bet Island, approximately 3.5kms south of Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia in the Narmada district of Gujarat. The 182 meter statue is going to be the world’s tallest statue and is almost double the height of the Statue of liberty in United States of America.