Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh Textbook Corporation has cancelled its paper procurement tender worth nearly Rs 250 crore after suppliers quoted rates up to 17% higher than those offered last year.
The corporation is preparing to initiate a fresh tender process to ensure paper procurement at reasonable rates and prevent a possible cartel among suppliers.
The move comes after the bids received from participating companies exceeded the price escalation estimated by the corporation’s technical committee.
The tender was floated for procuring paper required to print textbooks up to Class 12. The procurement process involved four companies: Shah Paper Mill, Satia Paper Mill, Silverton Paper Mill and Shreyans Paper Mill. These firms quoted prices nearly 17% higher than last year’s rates.
The technical committee had estimated an increase of 8% to 12% in paper prices, considering international market conditions and prevailing inflation. However, the rates received exceeded the upper limit of 12%.
The managing director (MD) considered the quotations unreasonable and placed a proposal for cancelling the tender and inviting fresh bids before the governing board.
Increased market demand could push prices
The officials also apprised the board of the possible risks associated with re-tendering. They pointed out that paper tenders were being floated in other states as well, and increased market demand could push prices further upwards.
Delays in completing the fresh tender process could also affect the timely printing and supply of textbooks.
Existing paper stock to support printing for 1.5 months
The cancellation is unlikely to immediately disrupt textbook printing. The corporation currently has sufficient CGSM paper stock, which can support uninterrupted printing for the next one to one-and-a-half months.
The available stock is sufficient to print nearly 25% of the textbooks required for the coming academic session.
The corporation is responsible for procuring paper and printing textbooks up to Class 12. While textbooks are supplied free of cost to students in government schools, private schools purchase them for their students.
