“Tender called for vide specification no. Coal 74 dated January 18, 2021, for the procurement of 20 lakh tonnes of imported steam coal of gross calorific value of 5604 GAR of any origin for delivery at Kamarajar Port, Ennore, is lodged,” said a corrigendum filed by Tangedco’s chief engineer of Mechanical-Coal wing. 

The decision to cancel the tender was taken more than a month after opening the technical bids on March 10 from seven bidders, including Chettinad Logistics Private Ltd. Interestingly, the utility has not stated any reason for cancelling the coal import tender.Ind-Vigo Coal Private Ltd, a Thoothukudi-based company, had first moved the Madras High Court alleging irregularities in the bidding process. The company had noted that as against the norm of providing 30 days notification for tenders above Rs 2 crore value, the Tangedco’s tender notification validity was only 15 days for a global tender whose value is about Rs 1,330 crore. 

Arappor Iyakkam, an anti-corruption NGO, had written to Tangedco seeking cancellation of the tender alleging that the new conditions were introduced into the coal tender that eliminates all Indian bidders and favours only foreign players. 

The High court had on March 12 warned the Tangedco that it would not hesitate to quash the coal tender if it found any evidence of foul play. The court was hearing public interest litigation filed by C Selvaraj, a retired assistant engineer of the Tangedco who sought a joint probe by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Central Vigilance and the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) into the alleged scam in the import of coal for thermal power generation.