Works to be taken up by the Public Works Department (PWD) across the State have formally come under the ambit of e-tendering from Saturday, according to the office of the Minister for PWD, Mr V. K. Ebrahim Kunju.
All tenders pertaining to works on roads, bridges, buildings and national highways will now be called for and accepted via the portal, www.etenders.kerala.gov.in, an official quoted the Minister as saying.
DIGITAL SIGNATURES
Contractors can log into the Web site, fill up the e-tender form and submit the same using their digital signatures.
From now, the identity of the tenderer will not be known until the tender is opened. This will go to improve not just the transparency of operations but efficiency of tendering transactions also, the Minister said. The tendering procedures can be completed much faster, too.
Contractors would not anymore need to present themselves personally at the PWD offices merely to take part in the tender. They can do it from the confines of their own private space, office or home.
CENTRAL SCHEME
E-tender is being implemented in the State by the State IT Mission as part of the Centrally-sponsored e-procurement programme being rolled out nationally under the larger National e-Governance Programme (NeGP).
It makes use of software developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Contractors as well as officials of the PWD have undergone train to familiarise themselves with the software and its use. Meanwhile, the city of Kochi witnessed the launch of two prestigious projects undertaken by the PWD.
KOCHI PROJECTS
One of them is the massive Venduruthy-Vikrant bridge linking the mainland with Willingdon Island that has been laid parallel to the ageing Venduruthy Bridge.
It has been built at a cost Rs 36 crore in partnership with the Indian Navy, whose Southern Command is situated on Willingdon Island. The share of the Navy in the outlay is Rs 12 crore.
The existing bridge had been badly impacted in a queer mishap in year 2005 that saw a dredger vessel ram into one of its pillars.
Originally, the Cochin Port Trust too had agreed to partner in the new bridge building initiative but backed out subsequently. The Kerala Road Fund Board was roped in instead.
The other project launched in Kochi was the long-pending Edappaly rail overbridge. Though it managed to get the all-clear from the Ministry for Surface Transport Ministry way back in 2004, the work got inordinately delayed for many reasons.
The original estimate was for Rs 18 crore, but the Union Ministry later agreed to scale it up to Rs 36.13 crore, with a new contractor in place.
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Quelle/Source: The Hindu Business Line, 05.02.2012
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