Whiff of irregularities in bus tender

Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service
Shimla, November 18

Alleging irregularities in the tender procedure being followed for awarding the contract for purchase of 85 electric buses, a complaint has been made to Governor, Chief Minister, and Chief Secretary.

Raj Bhawan has already marked an inquiry in the complaint made on November 13 by a Mumbai-based lawyer, Raghunath B Mahabal. He has alleged that changes are being made in the terms and conditions to avoid competition and favour certain parties. “The procedure being followed for purchase of the electric buses will result in illegal gain to the company and huge loss to the government,” he alleged.

The Himachal Government had floated Request for Proposal (RFP) document for design, manufacture, supply and commissioning of 50 battery-operated passenger transport vehicles for Shimla on September 12, 2018. It has been demanded that the entire tendering procedure be investigated for its propriety, sanctity and criminal angle for committing cartelized fraud through imposition of unreasonable tender conditions. The complaint has also been sent to Sanjay Kundu, IPS, who is presently serving as Principal Secretary (Vigilance).

The BJP regime had alleged irregularities in purchase of electric buses during the previous Congress regime and now the government itself faces such allegations, though yet to be proved as only a simple complaint has been received. During the Congress rule, these buses were bought for Rs 1.35 crore each but now the cost has been brought down to Rs 77 lakh as the annual maintenance contract (AMC) works out to be Rs 78 lakh, which is not being included.

Furthermore, he has alleged that such changes cannot be made without the collusion, conspiracy and abetment by certain officials in the government, resulting in white collar looting of public money. To substantiate his allegations, he has attached all documents pertaining to the past tendering procedures.

“The conditions are being unilaterally changed with the intention to favour certain groups and by including and them omitting the AMC,” he wrote in the complaint. “There are more than 10 major battery operated e-vehicle manufacturers in India in the desired passenger capacity range of 30 to 50 persons.

Since the battery constitutes 70 per cent of the total cost of the bus, the exact life of the battery is a key factor. Since there is hardly any data of electric bus use in India, purchasing these without AMC would be a major risk,” he wrote. The complainant has pointed out that an inferior product cannot be recognized at the tendering stage.

“Major manufacturers, including giants like Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, took part in the process initially but after relaxations were made after opening of the tenders, they opted out. The battery life of five years was changed to eight years and charging time down from three hours to one hour, which seems quite unlikely,” he wrote.

It has been alleged that the conditions put and accepted by the bidders are non-achievable and sure to fall but after four years it would be too late and the state would have to live with the error. It has been pointed out that the reputed companies, who value their word, opted out of the bidding process and did not submit their offers.