This is the first time since its inception that CIDCO has decided to outsource work on marketing and allotting these houses to an external agency. Helioscart, a joint venture (JV) of Thoughtrains Private Limited and Heliosmedium Bazar Private Limited, has emerged as the frontrunners to bag a contract to manage marketing, advertising and sales of the country’s largest affordable housing project — worth Rs 18000 crore — being built by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY) in Navi Mumbai.
Under the scheme, around 67,000 houses are going to be built, of which 26,619 will be for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category and 7,950 units will be reserved for the Lower Income Group (LIG). The remaining 33,096 units will be sold as non-PMAY residential units – anyone can apply for these houses.
This is the first time since its inception that CIDCO has decided to outsource work on marketing and allotting these houses to an external agency. The private agency will assist CIDCO in marketing, branding and advertising the mega project and also provide consultancy, house sale and post sale services.
The JV has emerged as the lowest bidder having quoted around Rs 730 crore for the project. While Thoughtrains has been in the business of advertising and marketing for the last few years, Heliosmedium was incorporated only in December 2018 and has several former CIDCO employees employed in its top positions.
When asked about the association of former CIDCO employees with the JV, an official from Helioscart said: “While hiring people we ensure that they are not violating any restraining norms imposed by their previous employment.”
The second lowest bidder is a JV of Krystal Integrated Services and M/S SV Inc, which quoted Rs 754 crore. The JV’s lead bidder, Krystal Integrated Services, is owned by a family member of BJP MLC Prasad Lad.
The third lowest bid is from a JV between Rahul Cables & M/s Probity, which had bid Rs 774 crore for the project. Probity had earlier provided software and back-end solutions to several government housing lottery schemes operated by CIDCO, MHADA and others.
The bids will now be evaluated by a committee set up by CIDCO before the final award letter is issued.
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