New Delhi-based Rodic Consultants Private Limited was entrusted with preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for the controversial 18-km tunnel road but completed it within three months amid criticism from city transport experts and opposition leaders The report.
Rodic Consultants is one of the six companies preparing DPR bids for the tunnel road project, an ambitious initiative led by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. The DPR was prepared at a huge cost of Rs 95 crore.
Controversy surrounding the selection process
Some urban transport experts have highlighted concerns about Rodic Consultants being awarded the DPR preparation contract despite a number of red flags arising from the company and the bidding process. For example, the company was blacklisted in 2021 by the Dedicated Freight Corridors of India Limited (DFCCIL), an enterprise of the Ministry of Railways.
A copy of the notice was available to indianexpress.com, but the reason for the blacklisting remains unclear. We tried contacting DFCCIL for clarification but received no response.
Although Rodic Consultants filed a petition in the Delhi High Court against the blacklist order, DFCCIL lifted the ban on July 2, days before the company was selected for DPR preparations. Rodic Consultants subsequently withdrew the petition from the court.
However, as per the consultation eligibility criteria for the BBMP Tunnel Road Project, “Consultants from the government, quasi-government committees or blacklisted members of the BBMP are not eligible to participate and such bids will be rejected.” Despite this, BBMP will still build the Rs 16,500-crore project The tunnel road project was awarded to Rodic Consultants.
Questions about past performance
Not only is Rodic Consultants facing problems with DFCCIL, but the company has also been criticized for its work as the Project Monitoring Agency (PMA) for Saubhagya Scheme in Jammu and Kashmir. The scheme aims to provide last-mile electricity connectivity to unelectrified rural households.
According to the court order of the Jammu Special Anti-Corruption Judge’s Court, the consultants showed “detached and casual attitude” while inspecting the project. The court noted that Rodic Consultants failed to flag discrepancies or verify bills submitted by executing agencies, which were then uploaded to the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for payment without verification. The court noted that the failure to ensure review and certification resulted in financial losses as well as collusion and negligence in the execution of the scheme.
Call for transparency and accountability
Bengaluru Congress MP and BJP leader PC Mohan criticized the DPR bidding process as “arbitrary” and “lack of transparency”. He felt that the BBMP’s reason for awarding the contract worth Rs 945 crore to a single bidder “insulted the Bengaluru public”.
Mohan questioned the high cost of the contract and expressed concerns over the rapid escalation of the project from an estimated Rs 8,000 crore in June 2024 to Rs 12,690 crore two months later. Mohan said: “BBMP’s rationale for awarding the tunnel road DPR contract worth Rs 945 crore to a single bidder is a blatant insult to the Bengaluru public. They claimed that the contract amount was lower than their estimate of Rs 15 crore but conveniently ignored the tender documents The project cost listed in the contract is Rs 8,000 crore, of which 0.1% is Rs 80 million, not the exaggerated Rs 9.45 billion in the contract.”
“More worryingly, the estimated cost of the project has climbed rapidly from Rs 8,000 crore in June 2024 to a staggering Rs 12,690 crore two months later. This was done to justify awarding a single tender,” he added. Why is it justified to ignore KTPP guidelines and adopt Least Cost Based Selection (LCBS) approach instead of Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) approach for such a complex project? A sense of honesty and responsibility. A thorough investigation of its arbitrary tender process is urgently needed and the public deserves full transparency.
Meanwhile, BBMP officials did not respond to indianexpress.com on the blacklisting order and the consultant’s alleged botching of work related to the Saubhagya scheme.
Urban transport expert Satya Arikutharam criticized the Department of Urban Land Transport (DULT) for sanctioning projects that are not part of Bengaluru’s comprehensive transport plan. “BBMP has set a world record by completing tunnel road DPR preparations in three months. DULT, are you sleeping at the wheel? Are regulatory capabilities and important professional values deficient? How can citizens be let in when project ideas that are not at all in the CMP Deceived? he asked.
The 18-km-long underground vehicular tunnel project is part of the Bengaluru Brand Project and connects the north-south corridor from Hebbal Esteem Mall Junction to Silk Board KSRP Junction. The project involves four connecting sections with different entry and exit points. The DPR stipulates that consultants must carry out traffic and infrastructure surveys and social and environmental impact assessments to improve safety, operational efficiency and minimize local impacts.
