Cartels, corruption plague Railway procurement

The tender did not include the clause against cartel formation. The report concluded that there are "cartels operating in railway procurement".     

When contacted CCI Director General Amitabh Kumar said, "Yes, there are cartels in the railway procurement. Railways officials have been complaining to us about the prevailing cartelisation in the bidding process. Suppliers allegedly are quoting same price for the bids which is an anti-competitive practice."     

But, the Commission can not take any action till the Commission is operationalised, Kumar added.     

The audit report of Comptroller and Auditor General of India, 2006, examined 19 items and highlighted that there was "cartel formation in nine out of 31 tender cases examined for pre-decentralisation period".    

Also, there was a cartel formation in 47 tender cases issued by zonal railways for the same item after decentralisation, the CAG report said.