Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is reportedly planning to rework the bidding conditions for its tender regarding the procurement of 4G equipment. This follows a strong objection by the Ministry of Commerce in line with the non-procurement conditions under Make in India initiative.
As per industry sources, some of the companies had objected the tender floated by BSNL in March 2020, on the basis of non-procurement under Make in India.
In this regard, BSNL is likely to conduct bidders meet and readdress queries from stakeholders to allay their apprehensions once the nationwide lockdown is lifted.
The development has come on the close heels of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) warning the officials for flouting public procurement norms of 2017. DPIIT also indicated that disciplinary action may be considered against erring officers in case restrictive conditions against domestic manufacturers are been imposed.
BSNL invited bids with one of the conditions saying that a parent company must be a manufacturer of the 4G radio access network, for the supply, deployment, and maintenance of 7,000 new 4G cell sites in two metropolitans being serviced by Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) valued at nearly Rs 90 billion, in addition to up-gradation of 50,000 sites in different zones.
