Chennai: In order to bring down expenditure on materials, Tamil Nadu electricity board (TNEB) will go for reverse auction in the big ticket procurement of materials for its transmission and distribution network as well as thermal plants.Reverse auction means lowest bidder being asked to reduce the quote further and asking if any other bidders is willing to supply the same for a lesser price than the L1’s bidTNEB procures about 350 different materials worth approximately ₹700 crore every year and so far, the lowest bidder would be awarded the contract to supply materials, ranging from poles to transformers, breakers, switches, oil, overhead and underground cables, insulators, meters etc. However, to make the bids more competitive and bring down the cost of materials, the board has decided to try out reverse auction.“So far, reverse auction was implemented only for coal and power purchases. Now we are extending the same to material procurement as well now. The procurement cost will become less,” said an official.It maybe noted that the white paper released on TNEB in June pegged TNEB’s total outstanding debt at ₹2.47lakh crores and the revenue deficit was projected as ₹34,447 crore. Electricity and law minister C T R Nirmal Kumar said that the TVK govt will take steps to plug the revenue leakages. After trifurcation, the Tamil Nadu power distribution corporation (TNPDCL) has started showing improvement in their financial performance and has shown a comprehensive revenue of ₹1,527 crore for the first time.While appreciating the efforts to reduce TNEB’s expenditure, consumer activist T Sadagopan said such initiative should not compromise on the quality of materials procured. “Already, a lot of equipment failures are reported and the ultimate sufferer is the end consumer. TNEB should bring about a mechanism to ensure the procured materials are of standard quality,” he said.Tenders are floated for TNPDCL, TNPGCL, TNGECL in the name of holding company TNEB.
