Pune Municipal Corporation has issued fresh tenders worth ₹116.5 crore for pedestrian-footpath upgrades and road restoration across the city, following the cancellation of an earlier road repair tender that attracted allegations over restrictive eligibility conditions and inadequate competition.
The civic body has floated a tender worth ₹58.60 crore for repairing and upgrading footpaths in Pune. The administration has described the proposed pedestrian routes as being of “world-class” standard, although the available announcement does not specify the design standards, locations or accessibility features that will be used.
A separate set of seven tenders has been issued for road restoration work valued at ₹57.90 crore. The work is expected to cover roads damaged after utility excavations and other municipal projects. According to the civic administration, permissions were granted during the past year to dig approximately 70 kilometres of roads for laying various service lines, while municipal departments carried out excavation across another 15 kilometres. The revised tenders will cover restoration of about 85 kilometres of roads.
The contracts for both the footpath and road restoration works are scheduled to have a 12-month completion period. The source report states that spending of about ₹116.5 crore on the two works is expected over the next two months, but does not provide a project-wise execution schedule or identify the roads and footpath stretches to be taken up first.
The road restoration tenders follow the cancellation of an earlier ₹75 crore tender. The cancellation came after scrutiny by Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram, who found that the terms and conditions had created confusion and had not generated sufficient competition, according to the report. Allegations had also been made that the tender conditions were designed to favour specific contractors.
The administration has now changed the eligibility terms and divided the road restoration work into seven tenders instead of the earlier three. Each of the revised packages is intended to be worth approximately ₹10 crore, with the total estimated value placed at ₹57.90 crore. Officials said the changes were made to encourage wider participation and prevent a small group of contractors from dominating the bidding process.
The civic body is also undertaking road works linked to the Pune Grand Tour cycling competition. Those works are divided into four packages covering approximately 83 kilometres and include repairs, asphalt resurfacing and raising chambers to road level. The cycling-related works have been estimated at ₹167.25 crore, separate from the ₹116.5 crore allocated for footpaths and road restoration. Some of those works have already begun, while other stretches are expected to be resurfaced or reconstructed for the event.
The immediate test for the revised tenders will be whether they attract broader competition and whether the road restoration is coordinated with future utility excavation. For residents, the work will be measured through the condition of repaired carriageways, the continuity of footpaths and the time taken to complete the contracts. The two new tender processes are expected to move ahead over the coming weeks, with the contracts carrying a 12-month deadline.
