Centre cancels Bihar's mega bridge project involving Chinese firms

The tender of a mega bridge project, to be built parallel to Mahatma Gandhi Setu across the Ganga river in Patna was cancelled by the Centre given that Chinese companies were involved in it. The state government plans to give out the tender to some other agency by July 31.

Patna: The Centre has cancelled the tender of a mega bridge project over the Ganga in Bihar as Chinese companies are involved in it, officials said on Sunday.

"Seven contractors had applied out of which three were disqualified and out of the remaining four, two had Chinese companies as partners, so we asked them to change their partners but they couldn't, so we cancelled their tender. We have called for applications again on June 27, for which the last date is July 29," said Bihar Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav.

The minister said that the construction of the bridge would mean that India is ready to compromise its position in the world.

"If the construction of the bridge took place with Chinese companies involved in it, it would be wrong message delivered on our part. It is an important bridge, and if the participation of foreign countries increases, it can be harmful. This decision was made after a lot of thinking and that's why we have retendered," he added.

Yadav further asserted that the tender for the bridge will be given out to some other agency by July 31.

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The capital cost of the entire project, including a 5.6-km-long bridge, other minor bridges, underpasses and a rail overbridge, was estimated at over Rs 2,900 crore.

The decision to cancel the project came in the backdrop of the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in a clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on June 15.

The skirmish at the border with China has led to a widespread call for a boycott of Chinese products and business entities.

The project was cleared by the Union government's cabinet committee on economic affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on December 16, 2019.

The proposed bridge was to be built parallel to the Mahatma Gandhi Setu across the Ganga river and it would have helped the people of Patna, Saran and Vaishali districts, officials said.

Besides the main bridge, the project included four vehicular underpasses, a rail overbridge, a 1.58-km-long viaduct, a flyover, four minor bridges, five bus shelters and 13 road junctions, they added.

The construction period for the project was three-and-a-half years and it was supposed to be completed by January, 2023.

Inputs from agencies