Violation of CVC Guidelines in Mithi River Clean-up Tender – Congress Spokesperson Sachin Sawant Reiterates Allegations

Mumbai: The explanation offered by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over the controversial Mithi River clean-up tender is nothing but an admission of irregularities, charged Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant today. He accused the civic body of deliberately violating Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) guidelines to restrict competition and tailor the contract for vested interests.

Sawant pointed out that the original tender had set the turnover eligibility criterion for pump manufacturers at ₹50 crore. However, after the pre-bid meeting, this was suddenly and arbitrarily raised to ₹210 crore. Since the pump manufacturer’s role was limited to supplying pumps to the contractor, this last-minute escalation was deliberately engineered to weed out competition, he alleged.

According to CVC guidelines, once a tender is published, eligibility criteria cannot be altered in a manner that restricts competition. “By tightening the criteria mid-way, the BMC has blatantly violated these guidelines,” Sawant noted, adding that he had submitted a letter to the Municipal Commissioner with documentary evidence of the irregularities.

A senior civic official, however, anonymously defended the change, claiming that since the pump supply component itself was worth nearly ₹700 crore, it was “reasonable” to expect manufacturers to have a turnover of at least 30% of that value.

Rejecting this justification, Sawant launched a scathing attack: “This is the third time the tender has been floated. First in March 2023, then in February 2025, and now again in September 2025. In all the previous instances, the turnover criterion was ₹50 crore. So, was the BMC acting with bad intent for three years? Was your engineering department and consultants asleep all this time? Why did this so-called 30% logic not occur earlier, when the project value was equally high?”

Sawant further challenged the civic body to disclose how many pump manufacturers are now eligible after the revised criteria, compared to the four who qualified earlier. “This manipulation is clearly designed to hand the contract to one BJP-friendly businessman. The altered eligibility clause is the key to this scam,” he alleged.

He demanded that the tender be scrapped immediately and that a probe be initiated against the responsible officials.