Petronet LNG Limited Tweaks Conditions To Favour A Large Conglomerate with a Rs 1200 crore Plus Contract ?
Tender delayed for two years to make one company technically qualify in tender while other shown the door
Petronet LNG Limited is making headlines this time around for all the wrong reasons. A tender worth Rs. 1247 crores to build a Cyrogenic LNG Storage Tank is Dahej, Gujarat for Petronet LNG LImited is up for grabs now but only for one company, i.e. Larsen and Toubro as all other competing companies, though more qualified, have been made to face technical disqualification.
Industry sources say that the terms and conditions have been made so by Pramod Narang, the Director (Technical) of Petronet LNG Limited, that the other major giants like IHI Corporation and Vijay Tanks and Vessels Limited -Consotrium, have not been able to participate in the tender process.
In normal course, a tender of such a big nature is made so that the best and biggest players of the particular field are allowed to participate and the best technically and financially qualified, is awarded the tender. But in this case, the top management of Petronet LNG Limited, wants to make this a single player contract to favour one powerful company of the country and give a royal ignore to the other big players.
Industry sources say that in tenders of such high volumes where only a single biddder comes, tender is cancelled and is published later so that there can be maximum participation but in this case, it seems that the top management of Petronet LNG Limited is in undue hurry to favour one big company at the cost of others, obviously, for reasons better known to them !
Sources say that the first tender came about two years ago when Larsen and Toubro, did not have the elegibility to get the contract as the pre-condition specified that only companies which have earlier built a Cyrogenic LNG Storage Tank, would be qualified to participate and L&T, at that time, did not have the pre-requsitie qualification. This tender has now been floated for the third time so that Larsen and Toubro, which has built one such Tank for a private player it does qualify and the qualification, strangely, comes at the expense of other major players.
Sources say that one such player which has been ousted from the contract on flimsy technical ground, is contemplating to approach the court for legal remedy in the coming days.
Here it is worth a mention, that the Board of Directors of Petronet LNG Limited, is meeting today itself, to clear the route for giving this single party tender to the company which they intent to do, which in this case is Larsen and Toubro.
In a very recent example, Delhi Government cancelled very small tenders related to Excise Department and allocation of liquor vends where there was single party participation. These tenders are to be floated again in the coming days.
