Bharatnet tender: New norms favour international firm, says NGO

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has refloated the tender for the Rs 2,000 crore Bharatnet project after it was struck down by the Centre. Though most of the restrictive clauses in the previous tender have been removed, NGO Arappor Iyakkam has written to the state government and Centre alleging that three restrictive criteria would once again narrow down competition.

One of the points, on the procurement of routers, has been flagged by a few companies during the pre-tender process, as per official documents. “This has been tweaked to favour a single foreign firm,” Jayaram Venkatesan, convenor of Arappor Iyakkam said.