HC dismisses petition against NPCIL on tender process

Madras High Court has dismissed a petition against Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for amending its tender notification, barring participation of joint ventures in the tender process for construction of buildings housing reactors, on safety grounds.
The court had yesterday dismissed the petition filed by Shapoorji Pallonji and Company, challenging a corrigendum issued by NPCIL on June 2 last, barring participation of Joint Venture Association (JVA) of private companies in the tender process.
The petitioner had submitted that they hold major shares in AFCONS Infrastructure Ltd, which was its subsidiary and that it was unfair on the part of NPCIL to have amended the May 9, 2016 tender.

The original tender permitted JVAs to participate in the tender process for the Rs 1,904.60 crore project, the petitioner added.
NPCIL claimed the notification had 'inadvertently' stated that JV's are also eligible to apply for the project. But a high-level committee of NPCIL had on May 26 decided to issue the corrigendum in view of the critical aspects of the project, it said.
NPCIL said AFCONS Infrastructure had time to submit an individual tender, but had not done so.
The court said, "It is not made clear as to why the subsidiary company did not participate in the tender process and why the petitioner company is insisting on considering the experience of the subsidiary company."

"The petitioner's company wanted to achieve indirectly what it could not achieve directly," the court observed and dismissed the petition.