The Mysterious Case of Single Tendering—Mocking Claims of Probity

Today entire Indian Railways is hopelessly dependent on just one unlisted company—creating a very big national vulnerability in Indian Railways electric and diesel loco fleet, and kavach and signalling systems—this shows utter failure of senior leadership of Indian Railways

Common tax payer demands that his tax rupee get invested in projects where there is fair price discovery—elimination of balance between services has created highways of manipulation and corruption in Indian Railways

Act-I

Due to the shutdown of National Academy of Indian Railways (#NAIR), no details are currently available about the #Single-Tender for performing an unadapted emotional intelligence test on the entire senior leadership of Indian Railways. Very curious indeed. Scene of crime itself has been eviscerated.

The beneficiary is reportedly connected to a chain of consultants who in turn are linked to a senior officer with access to the highest decision-making levels within the Railway Board.

Furthermore, the beneficiary of this illegal process against the Government of India’s policies is the PhD guide of this officer, who is credited with the embarrassment the government is currently facing regarding rail reforms. The long-lasting consequences of these machinations will take decades to resolve.

While these tenacious machinations by the so-called Khan Market Gang (#KMG) and All India Delhi Service (#AIDS) have granted them immunity from scrutiny, this scheme is now being applied on a much larger scale.

Act-II – Modus Operandi

A production Unit is given an order of a rolling stock-this unit passes the order on single tender to a government #PSU, essentially on nomination. Though charade of calling a bid is kept, but then that is still a single tender and only academically different from order on nomination basis, even though award of tenders on nomination basis is no longer permitted. As if on a cue, the meat of the tender is further passed on to a single private party.

It is apparent and widely believed that entire circuitous way of ordering has been done to keep hands of the Production Unit clean while ensuring real meat of the project gets passed on to a favoured party.

This led to loss of Intellectual Property Rights (#IPR) which was due to this railway production unit. Further, this is considered to be stepping stone in eligibility for larger tender which will come, like one in Act-III.

Act-III The Big Game

Comes High Speed project.

On single tender bid is called from a PSU for “Design, Manufacture, Supply, Testing, Commissioning, and Comprehensive Maintenance of #RollingStock and allied works for the Project for Construction of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail”.

What is shocking is that this PSU has no production experience in high sped rolling stock. If manufacture of a metro stock is considered eligible, then there are multiple Indian owned Multinational Companies (#MNC) and Indian subsidiaries of MNCs which meet this requirement with past Indian supplies. This unit was favoured in Act-II for making a 160 kmph train.

It was during Piyush Goyal’s ministership that it was decided that no any of railway PSU will get order on nomination basis and that they too have to compete. This was considered to be real reform-closing doors for #UPA-II style working. However, it seems, clock has been turned back. The machinations for which UPA-II was known now appears to be defining the approach of current leadership of Indian Railways. This is what we had been warning #IndianRailways leadership about.

This #Tender due on 16th March also points to the fact that this PSU has single tender order for manufacture of rolling stock on identical modus operandi as done by Indian Railways’ production unit in Act-II.

Act-IV – Suburban

One of the largest games is set to be played in Mumbai. Same modus operandi is being followed with nuanced difference if any, in name. Again the final beneficiary is same as in Act-II, III and IV.

The Ask:

Is there only one company in India which can do all this work? Why should Indian MNCs or subsidiary of foreign MNCs invest if they get locked out of competition? Let us not forget that open competition brought very aggressive and competitive prices for 9000 hp locomotives currently being manufactured by Dahod. In fact if cost of locomotives manufactured by #CLW, #BLW, #PLW and #Dahod are a benchmark, the wind fall gains being given to Private Public Partnership (#PPP) loco factories in Bihar would embarrass every right thinking person. To remind the reader, the protagonist of Act-I was behind the ever greening of cost escalation of these PPP units which are bleeding Indian Railways’ finances.

Common tax payer demands that his tax rupee get invested in projects where there is fair price discovery. Elimination of balance between services has created highways of #manipulation and #corruption in Indian Railways.

Today entire Indian Railways is hopelessly dependent on just one unlisted company—creating a very big national vulnerability in Indian Railways electric and diesel loco fleet, and kavach and other signalling systems. This shows utter failure of senior leadership of Indian Railways. A senior officer joked that this company is so deeply embedded in Indian Railways now, that they practically run parallel control over IR’s Signalling, Kavach and Rolling Stock while keeping pretence of #RDSO and #RailwayBoard control. This mechanism is compared with #SoniaGandhi led “National Advisory Council”. It is continuous weakening of RDSO, systemic sidelining of competent officers that one particular private company now becomes larger than organisation itself and officers slavishly take instructions from him.