The ambitious pre-bid meeting of the Ganga driveway project went off well with several bidders showing interest in the scheme.

The road construction department had organised the meet with the prospec- tive firms in New Delhi on Wednesday.

With the financial bid scheduled to take place on September 15, where the firm with the lowest quote would be awarded the work, the project is just a step away from being executed. The scheme would be implemented in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

Road construction department secretary Pratyaya Amrit told The Telegraph over phone from New Delhi: “The outcome of the meeting was good and positive. The bidders showed interest in taking up the project.”

Amrit said: “Such meetings take place before any big project. Bidders have their queries and apprehensions. They want to be assured of everything would go well. During the meet, all the bidders were satisfied with our answers.”

When The Telegraph asked Amrit about the names of the bidders, who took part in the meet, he said: “They have requested us not to reveal the names. It was the final and last meeting with the bidders. Five to six bidders took part. There would be no more meeting, as all issues have been discussed.”

The Ganga driveway, which entails construction of a 20.5km-long four-lane road, would connect west Patna with the eastern end of the city. While the western end would be near Digha Ghat, the eastern end would be at Didarganj. The new road is expected to bring down travel time between Digha Ghat and Didarganj from around 2 hours to approximately 25 minutes.

The total cost of the driveway project is Rs 2234.46 crore and the Centre would provide 20 per cent of the cost (Rs 446.89 crore). The state government would invest the same amount. However, the state would pump in an additional Rs 116.6 crore for meeting the land acquisition cost and shifting of other utility services.

Earlier, road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav had said six companies had cleared the technical bid for the project. He had also said the project had attracted some big players of the infrastructure sector.

Reliance Infrastructure, Simplex Projects Ltd, Transstroy India Ltd, Welspun, Indus-C&C Consortium and Nagarjuna Construction Company cleared the technical bid.

Initially, the financial bid was slated for August 3. Then it was postponed to August 14. But not a single bidder turned up that day. Now, the bidding is likely to take place on September 15.

Asked about the reason for the delay in the financial bidding, Yadav said: “It is a big project and companies need to fulfil certain criteria. It takes time for them to arrange for the money. However, we are getting a positive response. The construction work will start within six months of the financial bidding.”

Asked about bidders not turning up on August 14, Yadav said: “The companies have their own choice.”