After drawing just one bidder and a blank in its earlier attempts, the sole bid NHAI received this time is from DS Constructions, the firm that constructed the expressway.

The NHAI is at present carrying out a technical evaluation of the bid; it will be followed by a financial evaluation. The tender will be passed only once both are cleared.

A senior NHAI official said CVC guidelines advise that a tender can be opened in the first instance only if there is more than one bidder. “That is the reason why it was not opened the first time,” the official said, “but we were forced to open it this time. After all, we can’t go on issuing new tenders every time.”

Though there was just a single bidder in the third tender, too, NHAI chairman N Gokulram gave a go-ahead to open it following weeklong discussions. Experts say the lack of enthusiasm among construction firms lies in the low project budget NHAI has prepared: Rs 14 crore for construction of six foot over-bridges.

Rafi Khan of DS Constructions said the firm “would have been happy” if there were other bidders. But, “we decided to come forward since NHAI’s previous attempts at getting bidders failed,” Khan said. “We have been concerned about pedestrian safety on the Gurgaon Expressway, so we decided to put in our bid.”

There is only one foot over-bridge on the entire 27.7-km stretch — just after the RTR-Palam flyover. But that one, too, has not found many takers for it is badly lit. The expressway has four pedestrian subways.