The Hindu Business Line : BSNL’s vigilance officer seeks clarification on GSM tender

New Delhi, May 27 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd’s internal vigilance officer has asked the company’s management to clarify allegations made by Nokia Siemens against the tendering process followed in short-listing bidders for the 93-million-line GSM contract. The vigilance department has asked BSNL to submit a report by June 5.

Meanwhile, BSNL on Wednesday submitted a written response to the Punjab and Haryana High Court explaining why it had disqualified the Nokia Siemens bid. The Finnish company has the option to take its appeal back to the High Court if it is not satisfied with the explanation.

Nokia Siemens had complained that the tendering process was not transparent and that BSNL may have changed the contract terms to favour certain bidders. The Finnish telecom equipment major was disqualified by BSNL on technical grounds. The PSU had short-listed Ericsson and Huawei for the $6-billion project.

Nokia Siemens had also sought the intervention of the Competition Commission of India and the Central Vigilance Commission on the issue. The CCI has, however, declined to investigate the matter on grounds that it was awaiting proper laws to be put in place by the Government.

Nokia Siemens has primarily raised an issue on its bid being rejected on technical grounds given that the Finnish company supplies equipment to operators worldwide, including BSNL and Bharti Airtel in India. The company has said that if its equipment was good enough for BSNL’s previous contracts then how it can be disqualified on technical grounds for the new 93-million-line project.

Nokia Siemens has also highlighted the lack of competition in the bidding process since BSNL’s technical committee qualified bids from only one equipment supplier in three of the four zones. BSNL may have lost out in getting the best price in the process.

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