No takers for CWGs kitchen,Army may get it as gift

Despite minimum bid price of Rs 6.29 cr for equipment which cost Rs 17 cr,there were no offers

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This kitchen was bought for Rs 17 crore,but now nobody wants it not even for free. The huge kitchen at the Commonwealth Games Village in New Delhi,which was used to prepare food for thousands of players during the Games,has found no takers. So the CWG authorities have now mooted a proposal to gift it to the Indian Army.

The kitchen,with a capacity to prepare 3,600 meals per hour,was used to cook food for over 15,000 people staying at the Village during the Games in October. With most of the equipment bought from London,the complete kitchen is estimated to have cost about Rs 16.75 crore.

Calling for bids from interested parties,CWG officials had set November 8 as the last date. But the deadline had to be extended three times as there were no firm bid offers,despite the minimum bid price being fixed at Rs 6.29 crore. Some hotel and restaurant owners reportedly evinced interest in the equipment,but found it too big.

The equipment was later offered for free to the Sports Authority of India (SAI). But SAI rejected the offer,reportedly wary of taking anything that had been purchased by the controversy-ridden CWG Organising Committee.

It was at this point that the CWG authorities wrote to the Union Ministry of Sports,seeking permission to allow them to gift the kitchen equipment to the Indian Army.

Since the Army has played a stellar role in the successful organisation of the Games,it would be in the fitness of things that the equipment be given to the Army to be used in National Defence Academy or Indian Military Academy, states the letter to the ministry.

When contacted,Jiji Thompson,the Special Director General,Catering (Village),CWG,who sent the proposal to the Ministry,said he was awaiting a reply.

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There is an urgency to the whole thing as the equipment is lying out in the open in the Village. It is rotting away and chances of pilferage too cannot be ruled out. Now since there is nobody who wants to buy it,we have decided to gift it to the Army. The Army can use it in the NDA or the IMA to prepare food for the cadets, he said.

We are authorised to gift the CWG equipment to either SAI or the Delhi Government. In order to gift it to the Army,we need the Ministrys approval, he explained.