One of the six bids received for the design interface of the Prime Ministers’ Museum at New Delhi’s Teen Murti Bhavan is as low as ~1 crore, leaving officials wondering if the idea was feasible at all, said an official involved in the process.All the other bids were in the range of ~4-5 crore, they added.
The eight-member executive council of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, which is overseeing the project, has now decided to rope in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay to study the feasibility of the lowest bid. A meeting council, headed by former Indian Administrative Service officer Nripendra Misra, was held last to discuss the bids.
“The concern is that if we go ahead with the bid, and the firm is not able to produce the interface within the amount it has quoted, the deadline will be affected,” said the official on condition of anonymity.
The deadline for completing the project is October 2020.
The firm, which has worked with museums in the past, did not respond to requests for comment.
IIT Bombay director Subhasis Chaudhuri said that he is yet to hear from the government.
The six bids were received after two sets of bidding processes. The first was floated in March last year, and the second in August after the first did not yield fruitful results. In March, 13 firms were long-listed. Later seven were shortlisted and asked to send in their plans. In September, eight firms were selected, out of which six were shortlisted.
The firms have sent bids to design three floors of the Museum over 10,000 square feet. Digitally-interlaced displays, tactile and audio interfaces as well as sensorial exhibits were part of their brief. The firms were asked to focus on a “digital storytelling experience”. 3D-mapping techniques and holograms are to be employed in the design.
The Museum will display the legacy of all former prime ministers. The Congress has alleged it was an attempt to do away with the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, who resided in Teen Murti during his tenure.
