The Tamil Nadu government has withdrawn a tender-cancellation notice related to the procurement of 1,000 air-conditioned electric buses for Chennai, a day after the cancellation was announced. The Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has written to the National Informatics Centre (NIC) stating that the tender was cancelled “by mistake” and should be restored.
According to the letter, MTC has requested that the deadline for submitting bids be extended until November 4. The corporation also said it would take full responsibility for any legal implications arising from reversing the cancellation.
MTC had planned to expand bus services to meet rising commuter demand in the city. The tender for operating 1,000 new AC electric buses was floated earlier under a gross cost contract model with private participation, but the opening date was repeatedly postponed after a change in government.
Earlier, MTC had cited administrative reasons for cancelling the tender and officials indicated that the tender had been issued in the previous regime without administrative approval. A separate earlier tender to procure 500 electric buses with funding support from Germany’s development bank KfW had also been cancelled.
In a related move, MTC is preparing to call for a fresh tender to operate 220 AC small low-floor electric buses to provide feeder connectivity to Chennai Metro stations.
