Commerce ministry warns of action against officials for restrictive conditions in BSNL tender

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Commerce Wednesday warned the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) officials of disciplinary action if the public procurement conditions envisaged by the Centre to propel Make in India in the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (BSNL) tender for the deployment of fourth-generation or 4G sites are not met.
In a letter to the telecom secretary, dated April 22, seen by ETT, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) asked it to adhere to the Commerce Ministry’s public procurement policy and said, “disciplinary action may be considered against erring officers where restrictive conditions against domestic manufacturers have been imposed in a malafide fashion.”
The inter-departmental letter has come following a Delhi-based group cried foul, saying that BSNL has done a “very serious violation of public procurement policy” of 2017, and no ‘Make in India’ company was ever consulted by the public-sector telco.