The plot is owned by the state government and civic officials said that the process of transferring the land to the BMC is in the final stage (Archive)The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has received queries from 21 bidders for setting up a desalination plant in Mumbai’s Manori village after the civic body floated a new tender for constructing a 200-MLD plant eight months after scrapping the previous one in December 2023 that failed to attract bidders.A desalination plant is a facility where saline water from the sea is scientifically treated by removing salt extracts and minerals to make it fit for consumption. Desalination plants are popular in countries like Israel that have minimum access to natural consumable water like rivers and lakes but are close to the sea.“The pre-bid meeting for the latest tender was held on Monday (June 9), where as many as 21 bidders showed their interest and submitted queries. In the pre-bid meetings that were held for the previous tender, around 5-6 bidders had come forward. So this time the initial response looks good and we are hoping to get a substantial number of submissions in the final stage,” Abhijit Bangar – Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) said on Tuesday. Bangar said that of the 21 companies that came forward, two were firms that were based in Spain and the Middle East.The previous tender was scrapped due to the lack of multiple bidders, as it prevents the civic body from carrying out the work at a competitive rate. Later, a survey was carried out by a consultancy firm and a new tender was floated.According to the previous tender, the estimated cost of constructing the plant was pegged at Rs 2,000 crore while according to Bangar, the base price of constructing the plant as part of the new tender is being pegged at Rs 3,000-Rs 3,200 crore.“For the new plant, three tunnels have been planned, of which two will be for water intake, while one will be like an outfall discharging the inert remains. We will pull water from at least 2-3 kilometres away from the shoreline, from deep sea,” Bangar added.The proposal of constructing a desalination plant was first mooted in 2019 as a solution to counter the issue of growing water demand in Mumbai, which requires 4,250 MLD of water daily while the civic body is able to serve only 3,900 MLD, making a deficit of 300 MLD. This will be the first desalination plant in Maharashtra.Story continues below this adThe plant will come up on a 12-hectare plot at Manori village, which is a fishing hamlet in northern Mumbai. The plot is owned by the state government and civic officials said that the process of transferring the land to the BMC is in the final stage.At present, Mumbai is dependent on seven lakes — Tulsi, Vihar, Tansa, Bhatsa, Modak Sagar, Upper Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna — located in suburban Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Nashik. The catchment area of these lakes gets filled during the monsoon, following which water is transferred through pipelines and tunnels.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:BMC