Opposition on Monday alleged irregularities and corruption of Rs 1000 crore in the Rs 2500 crore Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial project to be built in the Arabian sea. The Opposition has decided to register a complaint with the Centre Vigilance Commission (CVC) against the government decision to flout prevailing norms while approving the project. This is not the first time that the Opposition had highlighted the irregularities in this project. L&T who had bagged this project contract had earlier submitted Rs 3,800 crore bid that was brought down to Rs 2500 crore through negotiations. The auditor department has raised objections to the negotiations and has also sought a detailed inquiry into it. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said the government's base price for the tender was Rs 2,692.50 crore, but L&T company's bid was Rs 3,826 crore — 42% higher than the base cost. However, the government never called for fresh tenders. Vinayak Mete, however, defended the government's decision. "Oppositions should not find out the negligible details and blow the issues out of proportion and call it a fraud or scam. We are honest in our deals," added Mete. However, the Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, "The BJP led government told that they are saving Rs 1,000 crore public money by negotiating with the L&T. This cannot be termed as 'saving' but a pure scam. That has to be investigated." He further said that in this matter, the committee headed by the chief secretary should have sought legal advice from the state law and judiciary department or from the Attorney General of the state on whether the government can negotiate with the bidder. "But surprisingly they appointed the M/s Aegis India Pvt Ltd as a project consultant to get the report over these changes. The private firm gave the green signal to change the contract details and reduce the project cost as well," he added.

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