22-Sep-2013
Jawaharlal Nehru (JN) Port has put on hold a decision taken earlier this month to buy 22 channel buoys and nine pairs of leading lights from an Indian entity after complaints that the harbour had to pay a higher price due to irregularities in selection.
Aero Marine Equipment Supply Pvt. Ltd, the Indian distributor for Australia-based Sealite Pty Ltd, was given the order to supply the gears that aid in navigation, after the firm placed the lowest price quotation of Rs.11.85 crore on a tender.
The price bid of Aero Marine was approved by the board of trustees of the Union government-controlled port on 6 September and a work order was issued on 10 September.
“The work order issued to Aero Marine has been kept in abeyance,” a port official said on condition of anonymity. “We are placing the complaints on the tender for deliberation at the next meeting of the board of trustees slated for 24 September. Based on the discussions, the board will decide whether to continue with Aero Marine or go for a fresh tender to purchase the gadgets,” he said.
A port spokesman declined to comment.
The tender had attracted four firms. Those who had applied included Sealite, the original equipment manufacturer, and its India and Qatar distributors, Aero Marine and United International Trading and Contracting Co., respectively.
US-based Tideland Signal Corp., the world’s biggest manufacturer of navigational aids, had also participated in the tender through its Indian distributor, Hi-Tech Elastomers Ltd.
So, effectively, there were only two participants—Sealite represented by itself and its Indian and Qatar distributors, and Tideland Signal represented by its Indian distributor Hi-Tech.
Though, Tideland Signal met all the selection criteria stipulated by the tender, its application was disqualified because it was evaluated only on the credentials of its Indian distributor Hi-Tech.
It is common practice in such tenders to evaluate the selection criteria for original equipment manufacturers and not for their dealers, distributors or agents.
“Hi-Tech has lodged a complaint with the government alleging that its application was disqualified to facilitate the order to Sealite through a nexus of the three companies (Sealite and its Indian and Qatar distributor),” the port official mentioned earlier said.
Sealite could not be reached immediately for comment, but its website shows that Aero Marine and United International Trading and Contracting were its Indian and Qatar distributors.
“By filtering healthy competition, JN Port has allowed a single manufacturer to compete within its three parties (dealers and agents) whose prices are known to each other,” Hi-Tech has said in its complaint, a copy of which Mint has reviewed.
As a result, JN Port has been forced to pay an “abnormally high price”, estimated worth more than Rs.6 crore, for the gadgets, Hi-Tech has claimed
Source:- livemint.com
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