APP cries foul over change in discom bidding guidelines

NEW DELHI:  The power sector has heavily criticised recent changes to bidding guidelines governing the privatisation of Chandigarh’s power distribution company (discom). These changes included an extension of the window for submitting eligible bids for the company. 

In a letter sent to the Union power ministry and the Chandigarh Union Territory’s administrator by the Association of Power Producers (APP), the industry body said that the tweaks, which were made after the end of initial deadline for submitting bids, vitiate the sanctity of the entire process and sets a bad precedent. 

The notice inviting bids for the Chandigarh discom was issued on November 9, 2020 and was set to end on February 8. However, on March 8, Chandigarh UT issued an amendment to the bid document, modifying two clauses and extending the bidding date to March 18. The amendment also provided an opportunity for new bidders to enter the race and allowed existing bidders to modify their initial bids. 

The APP said that six large corporates state-owned NTPC, Tata Power, Adani Transmission, Torrent Power, Sterlite Power and ReNew Power had already submitted bids to buy a 100 per cent stake in the distribution company.

“It is extremely surprising that an amendment to the RFP (request for proposal) documents was issued on March 8, 2021, i.e after the last date of bid submission,” the APP wrote, noting that the amendment not only modifies certain clauses that would have an impact on the financial bid but also “allows new bidders to submit bids after the last date has already passed”. 

The association went on to demand an immediate withdrawal of the amendment and requested that the already initiated bid process be taken to its logical end, since “financial bids have already been submitted after due diligence and the last date for submission of bids has ended”.