VIJAYAWADA: The State government has saved Rs 33.76 crore public money in procurement of 4G SIM cards by going for reverse tendering in awarding the contract. It has procured 4G SIM cards for village/ward secretariat functionaries and village/ward volunteers. Due to reverse tendering, the `199 postpaid plan (per month) in the open market has come down to `92.04. A sum of `107 per month is saved per connection. Airtel has won the bidding in the reverse tendering, an official release said.
The Andhra Pradesh Technology Services (APTS), which floated tenders for procuring 4G SIMs, opened the financial bids on November 6. Reverse tendering was conducted on November 7. The L1 price quoted for procurement of 4G SIMs is `121.54 crore (based on monthly postpaid plan for 3 years). Taking this amount as the opening price, the APTS had conducted reverse auction.
The successful bidder quoted Rs 87.77 crore (based on postpaid plan for 3 years), which is `33.76 crore less than the L1 price quoted originally. The number of 4G SIMs procured stands at 2,64,920. In the process, savings to the government with respect to L1 quote before reverse auction was 27.8 per cent and savings with respect to the open market price is 53.6 per cent.
When translated this amount into monthly basis, the postpaid plan is available at `92.04. The plan offers unlimited free national and local voice calls, 100 free SMSes per day and free minimum data of 1 GB per day at 4G speed (After 1 GB limit FUP is applicable).
Postpaid plan Rs 78
Base plan price Rs 14.04
Tax Rs 92.04
Total price per month 2,64,920
No. of SIM cards procured
Rs 2,43,83,236 Total price per month
Rs 29,25,98,841 Price per year
Rs 87,77,96,524 Total for 3 years
Rs 199 Postpaid plan per month in open market