New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday alleged major irregularities in the Delhi government’s ₹90-crore bicycle procurement tender for schoolgirls, claiming the tender was designed to favour a pre-selected vendor and resulted in an alleged ₹6-crore financial irregularity.
Addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj questioned the procurement process under which nearly one lakh bicycles were purchased for Class 9 girl students. He alleged that bicycles available in the market for around ₹4,100 were procured by the government at approximately ₹6,957 each.
Bharadwaj claimed that written complaints regarding the tender had already been submitted to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the Delhi Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister, but no action had been taken so far.
Referring to the complaints, he alleged that the eligibility criteria in the tender were deliberately framed to benefit a predetermined bidder. According to him, while the estimated procurement value was around ₹90 crore, the minimum turnover requirement for bidders was fixed at ₹360 crore, which he said was significantly higher than the standard eligibility norms prescribed under CVC guidelines.
He further alleged that the tender excluded the most recent financial year’s turnover while assessing bidder eligibility, thereby preventing certain manufacturers from participating.
Bharadwaj also questioned the absence of a pre-bid meeting, saying such meetings are a standard practice to allow prospective bidders to seek clarifications and recommend corrections to tender specifications. He alleged that skipping this process reduced competition.
Citing the complaints submitted by bicycle manufacturers, Bharadwaj claimed that companies supplying similar mountain terrain bicycles to BJP-ruled states at substantially lower prices were effectively excluded from the Delhi tender.
The AAP leader compared the allegations with the recently registered Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) case relating to alleged irregularities in Delhi’s health department procurement, claiming that both tenders were structured to favour selected vendors.
