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Mamuni Das

New Delhi, June 9 Fears of Indian companies, which are relatively new to the infrastructure sector vis-À-vis international firms, on not getting a chance to bid financially for public private partnership (PPP) projects in highways and port sector, may be allayed.

The Finance Ministry is in discussion with the Road Transport Ministry for reviewing the new model qualifying bid document, which allows only the top five to six players (with maximum experience and net worth) to bid financially for infrastructure projects.

Earlier, for such PPP projects, the technical qualification norms were set based on turnover and experience, and bids were invited from all players that met the specified norms.

But, a new model request for qualification (RFQ) for PPP projects firmed up a few months ago states that only up to five or six qualified applicants can be invited for participation in the (financial) bid stage.

As the implementation of the new RFQ started for highways and port projects, several Indian companies, which have exposures in the infrastructure sector or those eyeing the sector, wrote to the respective departments seeking changes in this norm.

They alleged that this norm is anti-competitive and favours large, multinational firms vis-À-vis Indian players who are relatively new in the sector.

The National Highways Builders Federation, a lobby body with membership from companies that include Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Energy (ADAG) or Reliance Infrastructure, GMR, GVK and Unitech had even taken up the matter with the Prime Minister.

In its representation, it had said: The Planning Commission guidelines implemented by National Highways Authority of India restrict pre-qualification of qualified applicants to only around five top firms.

“Considering (the) present infant status of PPP in India, major international players are the sole beneficiaries, throwing out Indian entrepreneurs who have provided extremely competitive PPP projects.

A few days ago, the Finance Ministry had a round of discussions with the Department of Roads on the issue, while another meeting is likely to be held soon with the Department of Shipping.

According to an official source, “The Shipping Ministry has also approached the Finance Ministry on the issue on which a meeting is likely to be held.”

However, the Shipping Ministry has decided not to delay the ongoing projects while the review is on.

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Roadways

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