The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Tenders row: Government mulls fresh notification

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Tenders row: Government mulls fresh notification

By Our Special Correspondent

Hyderabad, Nov. 23. A serious internal discussion is on whether the Government should issue a fresh notification inviting more companies to participate in the pre-qualified bids for executing the 77 "medium" irrigation packages.

Earlier, the Government had short-listed 46 firms on the basis of six pre-qualifications for executing these packages. Two main pre-qualifications -- registration in the State and ISO certification -- were relaxed for including 20 firms in the list on the plea that they applied for these benefits and showed proof to that effect.

The fresh notification is being considered for this category also in light of the High Court's direction in respect of the 51 "major" irrigation packages. The relaxation, covering the same two pre-qualifications, was given to seven firms in this case. The court direction was for fresh notification so that more contractors would be able to participate. The last date for responding on this is December 2. As many as 21 packages of this category have been awarded to the nine firms by the time the court judgment came out.

In response to the notification on medium packages, the 46 listed firms filed 590 tenders covering 70 packages. A decision is likely anytime.

Public hearing

Meanwhile, following the High Court order on Pulichintala, the Government has convened a public hearing on December 4 at Guntur. A senior official said the Collector's report on the hearing would be rushed to the Union Ministries of Environment and Social Justice.

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