It specifies that only five-six pre-qualified applicants will be allowed to participate in the financial bid stage of a project. The candidates will be short-listed on the basis of a ‘point system’ where only the top players with maximum experience in various fields such as ports, roads, power and airports will be allowed to submit final bids for a project.

Earlier, for such PPP projects, the technical qualification norms were based on turnover and experience and there was no ceiling on the number of players to be ‘pre-qualified’. Infrastructure companies have alleged that the new RFQ norms would ensure that only a few top international players get selected to bid for every project.

“Forget small companies, even big companies including GVK, GMR or L&T would have to enter into a joint venture with a foreign player to be eligible to bid for projects,” said a senior executive with a leading infrastructure company.

The National Highways Builders Federation has even dragged National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to court on the matter, claiming that the new RFQ would ‘create an artificial class within a class of bidders’. Taking note of the concerns expressed by various stakeholders, the Finance Ministry said it was now considering revising the RFQ guidelines. “We have received representations from various stakeholders on the need to do away with a limit on the number of pre-qualifying applicants. We are aware that this may lead to cartelisation, with a few players grabbing most projects. So we are reviewing the matter,” said Arvind Mayaram, joint secretary (infrastructure), Finance Ministry.

... contd.