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The Railways on Monday launched an e-tendering portal to bring transparency in the execution of works contracts and make it cost-effective for the bidders.
It typically invites around 25,000 tenders a year, involving an expenditure of about ₹35,000 crore for the upgradation and creation of new assets and other works.
Tenders involving ₹2-20 crore will be processed online till April, after which tenders of all value will be done so.
Online auctions For several years now, Railways had been using the online platform for supply contracts and to auction its materials. In the current fiscal, it has published tenders worth ₹39,053 crore till date and sold products worth ₹7,582 crore through online auctions.
In a year, ₹35,000 crore worth of works contracts are issued by various departments of the Railways. These include engineering, mechanical, electrical, signalling and telecom, commercial and health contracts.
Inaugurating the online project, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said the online tendering system will help identify sharp price differentials to procure different products.
“While some level of difference in prices is understood as the cost of a product in the North-East would not be the same as its cost in say Delhi, wide variations can be avoided,” he said. Additionally, the Railways is in the process of automating the bid evaluation process, online preparation and finalisation of minutes of the tender committee.
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