Bombay HC Rejects L&T’s Plea in MMRDA Road Projects; Here’s Why

Bombay High Court has dismissed Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) plea that sought opening of financial bids for the Thane-Ghodbunder to Bhayander tunnel and elevated road projects worth Rs 16,000 crore undertaken by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the Mint reported. Bombay High Court’s division bench-led by Justices Kamal R. Khata and Arif S. Doctor on May 20, ruled on two petitions filed by the construction giant. 

L&T, in another plea, had contested that it had not been informed about the status of its bids, whereas other bidders had received information regarding the same. The HC rejected the company’s request to further extend the stay on the opening of bids. 

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Case’s background 

L&T’s plea dealt with infrastructure projects that aim to connect Thane and Mira-Bhayandar—a tunnel from Gaimukh to the Fountain Hotel junction at Shilphata and an elevated creek bridge linking Bhayandar to Ghodbunder Road in Thane. The upcoming bridge is set to be the second largest in the region after the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), also known as Atal Setu. 

For the construction of the project, MMRDA had invited tenders in July last year and on October 8. In response to a separate petition by L&T, the deadline to submit the bid was extended by 60 days.

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L&T’s legal representative informed the bench that the technical and financial bids were submitted on December 30, 2024. The firm’s lawyer argued that MMRDA opened the technical bids on January 1 and started evaluating them, however, no update regarding the same was communicated to L&T. 

The company mentioned that MMRDA then moved ahead to schedule the opening of the financial bids for May 13. While all this was taking place, L&T had received no information regarding the status of the construction company’s technical bid evaluation. The company alleged in its plea that while all the other bidders were informed, L&T was kept out of the information loop.  

Consequently, the firm approached Bombay HC and contested that opening financial bids while excluding the company from participating breached the principles of a fair and transparent tender process.