BJP finds Louis Berger Group deal for Mono Rail fishy

Mumbai: The BJP, which has taken a beating from the Congress over corruption allegations against some of of its top leaders, has begun digging up dirt related to US-based Louis Berger Group that faces allegations of bribing politicians in Goa. For starters, the BJP has highlighted how the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) in charge of the Mumbai Mono Rail Project appointed the Louis Berger Group as the Project Management Consultant (PMC) for the project. BJP claims that this allegedly pushed up the cost of the project exponentially.

“MMRDA had first engaged Rites as the PMC for the project which undertook a feasibility study and estimated that construction cost would be Rs 1,539 crore. Surprisingly MMRDA disagreed with the RITES report and appointed Louis Berger which submitted a report within two weeks revising the estimate for the project to Rs 2,329 crore. Based on the Louis Berger report, the final contract was given at Rs 2,716 crore,” Mumbai BJP general secretary Vivekanand Gupta has said.