After 12 attempts, Patiala MC to reduce No. of sites, price to allocate advertisement tender

Tribune News Service

Ravneet Singh

Patiala, March 13

The Municipal Corporation has failed to allocate the advertisement tender despite floating it 12 times in a row already. The MC now aims to reduce the number of sites and tender price for easy allocation. It has sought the nod of Local Government Department for the same.

We have already floated the tender 12 times in a row, but to no avail. We failed to receive bidders. Therefore, the office has decided to reduce number of advertisement kiosks at various remote places that did not attract interest. It has also decided to reduce the tender amount. An MC official

The previous tender had lapsed in October last year. An MC official said, “We had earlier advertised the tender over 10 times in a row. Contrary to the earlier times when we used to get at least one bidder, we have failed to get even a single one during these attempts.”

Another official said, “We have already floated the tender 12 times in a row, but to no avail. We failed to receive bidders. Therefore, the office has decided to reduce the advertisement kiosks at various remote places that did not attract interest. It has also decided to reduce the tender amount.”

He said, “The previous tender was allocated in 2015 for a period of seven years. Before this, we had reduced the tender amount and floated the tender for Rs 5.62 crore. This time we propose to issue the tender with a minimum reserve price of Rs 5 crore.”

Civic body officials said the matter was discussed in a House meeting after seeking responses from advertising agencies. “The agencies picked the remote locations which did not attract advertisers. They also said the rates of the advertisement tender were high,” an official said.