Locked Office, No Production Facility: Former BDL CMD’s Family Firm Emerges as Sole Bidder for ₹56.8 Crore Missile Tender from the Same PSU
BDL’s present management seems to be living in an “Alice in Wonderland” world of its own
They say PSU CMDs never retire. Some join the private sector with or without completing cooling-off periods, while others become entrepreneurs. But this is the true story of the “More than Dynamic” former CMD of Bharat Dynamics Limited.
Locked office. No manufacturing assets on the balance sheet. And a ₹56.8-crore missile equipment tender from the very PSU he once headed—with his family’s company as the sole invited bidder.
Meet Aindri Defence Advisory Private Limited, established in May 2024 by former BDL CMD Siddharth Mishra and his wife, Shambhavi Mishra. The company is at the centre of a procurement controversy after BDL invited it alone to bid for 300 optical sights used in anti-tank guided missiles.
BDL cited urgency for departing from the competitive procurement route used for similar equipment in 2024 and 2025, when India Optel Limited, another defence PSU, received the orders.
Aindri quoted ₹56.8 crore and cleared the technical evaluation after supplying five sample units. Its financial evaluation was still underway when the case was reported.
The irony is difficult to miss. A company founded by the former chief of a defence PSU gets a contract worth ₹56.8 crore from that same organisation, despite questions raised about its listed office and manufacturing infrastructure.
The question is simple: what exactly qualified Aindri to be the only company invited to bid—and what justified BDL’s decision to abandon competition?
And with the audacity with which this single tender has been awarded, it appears that the present management of Bharat Dynamics Limited believes that neither the Central Vigilance Commission’s regulations nor the Right to Information Act apply to it. While the Modi government has repeatedly proclaimed zero tolerance towards corruption and nepotism, BDL’s present management seems to be living in an “Alice in Wonderland” world of its own.
