The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has awarded Reliance Infrastructure the contract to convert commercial hub Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) into ‘Smart BKC’.

The evaluation process of both the financial and technical bids were scrutinised after which MMRDA concluded that Reliance would be awarded the contract for ‘Smart BKC’, said Sanjay Sethi, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA.

The project has been awarded to Reliance on design, develop, implement, operate and maintain basis for which the MMRDA will spend around Rs 75 crore, as quoted by Reliance in the bidding.

Other than Reliance, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was in the fray and had quoted Rs 107 crore for the project. However, it was awarded to Reliance, which had quoted the lowest. “We had to analyse every aspect in detail because the MMRDA has had differences with both companies and there are chances of either company going to court, alleging bias against it,” said a senior MMRDA official.

MMRDA has differences with Reliance over the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) Metro-1 corridor and L&T over the Wadala-Chembur monorail corridor.

However, there should not be any further litigation as any company that qualifies for the financial and technical bid for the project, it is automatically entitled to act as a contractor for the project,” added the MMRDA official.

To make the selection more transparent, the MMRDA had conducted a drill on ‘Smart BKC’ on December 17 and 18, where both Reliance and L&T presented the components that they would be offering for the project, which is termed a technical bid. This test helped MMRDA in evaluating the components offered by both companies.