The much-hyped tendering for advertisement hoardings was finally awarded to a Delhi-based company, Media 24*7, by the Municipal Corporation Dehradun on Friday. With this tender, the MCD would get Rs 5.90 crore through hoardings in the next two financial years i.e. 2015-16 & 2016-17, it is learnt.
The MCD had fixed the tender amount at Rs 5.84 crore while three companies, all from Uttarakhand- Stimulus, Catalyst and Adone- had quoted Rs 5.86 crore during the bid against the MCD’s ceiling price of Rs 5.84 crore. Fourth participant Media 24*7 had quoted Rs 5.90 crore and got away with the tender.
MCD official said that the local companies forming a caucus had landed the Municipal Corporation in loss. They were expecting to earn over Rs six crore from hoarding. But, the caucus came in way as the local companies were disinclined to compete with one another.
Interestingly, MCD used to summon tender for hoarding once in a year. But departing from the convention, they this time summoned tender for two years. MCD, which has remained cash strapped because of the running rivalry between Municipal Corporation and State Government, expected a lot from the hoarding tender to boost its finance.
Earlier, giant hoardings were installed atop the houses. But this year MCD has banned such hoardings. To increase revenue, they had shortlisted 191 places along 11 roads-Rajpur Road, Chakrata Road, Gandhi Road, Saharanpur Road, Sahastradhara Road, GMS Road, Raipur Road, Mussoorie Diversion, Race Course, Rest Camp and Haridwar Bypass Road.
Interestingly, 50 out of 191 places have been identified along Rajpur Road. The civic body expects to earn Rs 2.4 crore out of Rs 5.9 crore in the next two years from the hoardings to be put up along this important road of the city. The Delhi company has been getting the tender for the past three years.
The local hoarding companies had been in a sulk mode, alleging that the civic body had some understanding with the Delhi company. However, strangely, this time, the local companies refused to participate in competitive bid. “The reasons why they decided to steer clear of the matter are murky,” said an observer.