The Government’s plans to import onion to rein in its high prices have come a cropper as five of the six bids received were invalid and one eligible supplier quoted high price.
On government’s instruction following retail price soaring up to Rs 100 a kg, co-operative major Nafed floated a tender on October 23 to import onion from Pakistan, Iran, China and Egypt. The bids were opened on Tuesday.
“We have received a total of six bids, but only one is valid and it does not suit our requirement,” NAFED Managing Director Sanjeev Chopra said.
The valid bid quoted Rs 50 per kg at ex-Delhi price for Chinese onion. “At this rate, we are getting onion in the domestic market and import at this price does not work out to our favour.”
Five bids were found invalid for various reasons and a detailed report on this is expected tomorrow, he added.
“We cannot take a decision based on one valid bid. As per CVC guidelines, at least 3 tenders should be there,” he said.
