BENGALURU: Having received no response from traders to bid for the tamarind yield from 235 of its trees on the Jnana Bharathi campus on Mysuru Road, spread over 1,100 acres, Bangalore University is calling for bidders for the third time on January 18. The bid has been invited for an unspecified quantity of tamarind that traders can harvest themselves.

In the open market, 1 kg of tamarind is sold at `130 to `150. Bidders need to deposit a minimum of `4,000 to be able to bid in the auction. Rekha B P, garden superintendent, Bangalore University, said, “We had invited bids twice in December last year, but we received no response. Last time, we had fixed the starting amount at `50,000.”

The varsity has four to five entry and exit points and it’s not possible for the university to deploy Home Guards in the interiors of the campus to fence off trespassers. Hence traders are not coming forth, Rekha said.

Every year, when the fruit is ripe, the university calls for bids. After the bidder deposits the money in the varsity’s bank account, he is allowed to harvest the produce and the trees are back in the control of the university.