AP Govt. is set to make major Amendments to Swiss Challenge method

A major amendment to the Swiss Challenge method is proposed to be cleared in the cabinet meeting scheduled to hold on Tuesday. The amendment comes after Hyderabad High Court directed the state government to divulge the financial bid of Singapore consortium to competitive bidders. One of the prospective bidders filed a case in Hyderabad High Court Challenging the transparency in methodology of awarding contracts under Swiss Challenge method. After hearing his petition, the court directed the state government to reveal the financial bid of Singapore Consortium to other competitive bidders in order to quote better proposal. As per Swiss Challenge method proposed by the government, the competitive bidders should quote a price equal or more than the price offered by Singapore Consortium offered to the government which is not disclosed to others. Then the revised best price shall be given to Singapore Consortium for matching. The bidders are claiming that they cannot quote best price unless the initial price offered by the consortium has been revealed to them. There is another major amendment on cards. The government is set to dilute the powers of Andhra Pradesh Infrastructure Authority (APIA). APIA has the final say in clearance of the Swiss challenge proposals. Now, the same has to take care by the respective departments, which will directly send proposals to the cabinet. Once the amendments cleared by the cabinet, it is expected that there are no major hurdles.