COASTAL RD: 5% OF PROJECT COST MAY BE PAID TO CONSULTANTS : Hindustan Times

MUMBAI: With questions being raised over spending Rs600 crore on consultants for studying the Mumbai coastal road, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the amount was not just limited to the review.

Officials from the civic body explained that total expenditure for the review of the detailed project report (DPR) will be Rs1.5 crore and Rs600 crore will be the cost of the various consultants appointed for the ambitious road project.

The Rs12,000-crore project will be based on the DPR.

Earlier, civic officials had said 5% of the project cost would be f or peer review (third-party audit) of the DPR by consultants.

Officials said the BMC will need consultants not only for peer review of the project, but also while issuing the tenders for various construction stages.

Also consultants may be needed f or overall project management and solving legal issues, officials said.

Sanjay Mukherjee, additional municipal commissioner, told HT, “The peer review of the DPR will be about Rs1.5 crore and we are in the process of appointing the consultants. Usually, in smaller projects, the charges are about 2 % of the project cost, but as this is a big one, the overall consultancy charge may be up to 5%.”