Warn of poor-quality work and outsider entry if limit on underquoting is scrapped
Road contractors addressing the media on the government circular removing the 20% cap.
Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
The All Goa Road Contractors’ Association has demanded that the government restore the long-standing circular that set a 20% limit on how much below the estimated cost contractors could quote for PWD and government works.
At a meeting held on Tuesday at BPS Club, the Association urged the government to cancel the new circular, which removes the 20% limit and allows contractors to quote even lower.
Speaking to the media, Association president Amarnath Desai said that removing the 20% cap would lead to poor-quality work and allow outside contractors to enter Goa, win contracts, and then abandon them.
He said the Association had already met with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who also heads the PWD, to ask him to roll back the decision. “After today’s meeting, we will again meet the Chief Minister to request that the 20% rule be kept in place,” he said.
Desai warned that allowing bids beyond 20% below the estimated cost would result in shoddy work. He claimed outside contractors may take contracts, collect payments, and leave the work incomplete, causing loss to the government.
When asked if contractors pay large commissions to secure work, Desai denied the claim. Responding to a question about delays in restoring dug-up roads before the monsoon, road contractor Santosh George said the government should ban road digging from May 1 each year to allow proper restoration before the rains.
