Shimla: Tender for mandi digitisation likely to be floated again

Shimla, July 3

The Himachal Pradesh government’s plan to digitise mandis in the state is likely to get delayed. Despite selecting one of the four companies that participated in the tendering process for the work, the authorities concerned are likely to re-float the tenders.

“The work has not been awarded yet. No decision has not been taken on whether the amount quoted by the selected company includes the Goods and Services Tax (GST) or not. The company could back out because of the tax factor, and the tenders for the work might have to be floated again,” said Agriculture Secretary C Paulrasu.

The tender for the digitisation of mandis was floated by the Himachal Pradesh State Agricultural Marketing Board.

The Agriculture Secretary is currently the chairman of the board.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Dharamsala, Sudhir Sharma today alleged that the company, which was disqualified by the technical committee constituted for the tendering process was awarded the tender by the board’s chairman.

“The three disqualified companies were given an opportunity to file their response and the response of the two was found to be satisfactory. Eventually, two companies were left in the race, and the company quoting the lower price (Rs 6.7 crore) was selected for the work,” he said.

SMELLING A RAT

BJP’s Dharamsala MLA Sudhir Sharma has alleged that the company, which was disqualified by the technical committee constituted for the tendering process was awarded the tender by the board’s chairman.