Gujarat HC sends notice to GRIMCO after PIL was filed alleging cycle supply tender conditions keep SMEs out of bidding

Ahmedabad, July 5 (KNN) A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in Gujarat High Court alleging that the tender to purchase 2.5 lakh bicycle under Gujarat Government’s  Saraswati Sadhna Sahay Yojana and the Garib Kalyan Mela has conditions that makes most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) ineligible to bid for the contract.

The PIL was filed by Keshubhai Patel, a member of the district panchayat in Mehsana.

He has alleged that the conditions for the purchase bicycles were tweaked to benefit a company.

The matter came to a division bench of the High Court headed by Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy.

The Bench has asked the Gujarat Rural Industries Marketing Corporation Ltd (GRIMCO) to file an affidavit on the matter.

The PIL states that the 2015-16 conditions of bidding for the supply of cycles were changed so that only a few bidders or cartel of bidders became eligible.

The petition also states that the stipulations for production capacity, and turnover, among others, have ensured that most of the small and medium scale industries become ineligible to bid for the same.

Pointing that the tender had a criteria to not let companies blacklisted earlier by the government or fined for delay in delivery or unsatisfactory supply to bid again, the PIL highlighted that the same companies that were fined previous time have bagged the tender this time.

The two companies, who have bagged the tender, were fined over Rs 1 crore for the delay and poor quality products.

The petition stated that the price of the bicycles that the company has quoted also shot up to Rs 3,499 per unit this year. It was Rs 2,792 last year. The weight of the bicycles also reduced from 20 to 21 kg to 18 kg, and the penalty for poor quality and delay in delivery was brought down from 1 per cent of the total cost to o.5 per cent of the total cost.

Meanwhile, the counsel for GRIMCO argued that the company which got the tender had not been blacklisted nor had it ever stated that the company didn't perform well. It also stated that the company was the only one to bid for the project.