Govt to invite fresh tenders for Afghan Parliament building

NEW DELHI: Government has so far failed to receive any response from companies to its tenders for construction of new building for Afghan Parliament, prompting it to invite fresh bids "We have now decided to invite tenders again for the construction of Afghan Parliament as the first tender failed to get any response," said a senior Urban Development Ministry official.

The CPWD had floated the tenders in August last year for the Rs 215 crore job and about ten construction companies had purchased the tender papers for the construction work in Kabul. However, no one submitted the tenders till the last date in February this year. While the lack of response is attributed to the volatile situation in Kabul, officials said India was committed to constructing the Parliament building.

"We had a meeting with seven pre-qualified construction agencies and they had suggested certain conditions for participating in the bidding," said the official. "There were also some issues involving security and visa facility and we have agreed to look into it," he said. The construction of the Parliament building in Kabul will be a landmark step in Indo-Afghan relations and will help further boost cooperation and enrich relations between the two countries, he said.

Afghan government had given the go ahead to CPWD's conceptual plan for the construction of parliament building in November 2006.