Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Syndicates scuttle sand auction again

— PHOTO: CH.VIJAYA BHASKAR.

Controversial: Contractors at the auction for the Gani-Atkuru sand reach in Vijayawada on Tuesday.

VIJAYAWADA: Rival sand syndicates scuttled the auction for the Gani-Atkuru Sand Reach, the second time by making an exorbitantly high bid of Rs.39 crore in a sealed tender at the Sub-Collector's Office here on Tuesday. The second highest bid for the reach was Rs.13.4 crore.

Auction for the sand reach turned controversial when rival sand syndicates submitted a sealed tender for Rs. 45.45 crore, about 13 times the minimum knockdown amount of Rs. 2 crore on April 13. The then highest bidder failed to make a deposit of 25 per cent of the tender amount, approximately Rs. 11 crore, forfeiting the Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) of Rs.50 lakh.

The profit in sand business was so high that the syndicates were ready to forfeit huge amounts like Rs. 50 lakh to maintain a monopoly. Fresh tenders had to be called when the second and third highest bidders refused to accept the bid for Rs. 45.45 crore.

District Level Sand Committee (DLSC) Chairman and Krishna district Joint Collector Gaurav Uppal said after the auction that the highest bidder Kankipati Subba Rao, Khammam, was not present at the auction.

According to the present rules the highest bidder should be given a time of two working days to deposit 25 per cent of the knockdown price (in this instance approximately Rs. 10 crore) “whether he is present or not”.

Mr. Uppal said that he was in touch with the Principal Secretary for Mining and Geology Department throughout. “This could be a repeat of what happened in April,” he said and added that the DLSC had decided to write to the Government to relax the rules to grant the tender to genuine bidders.

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