BENGALURU: A cloud of controversy is gathering over the Centre for e-Governance, Karnataka State Wide Area Network (CeG K-SWAN) project tender, amid allegations that the bidding process may have been skewed to favour a specific original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
According to sources familiar with the matter, the tender attracted only three bids -- all reportedly from Cisco-preferred or selectively empanelled partners -- effectively narrowing the field. The limited participation has raised eyebrows, particularly because a reputed public sector undertaking had earlier blacklisted Cisco, a development that, under standard procurement rules, should have rendered any related bids ineligible for consideration. Despite this, the tender is said to be moving ahead in the evaluation stage, prompting serious questions about whether established procurement norms are being selectively interpreted or bypassed.
Observers suggest that the continued processing of bids linked to a blacklisted OEM could indicate preferential treatment, undermining the principles of fair competition that public tenders are meant to uphold.
“The issue is not just about one company or one tender,” said a senior procurement expert on condition of anonymity. “If blacklist norms can be ignored or diluted, it exposes deeper systemic weaknesses in oversight and governance.”
Critics warn that allowing such bids to proceed could set a troubling precedent, eroding public trust in government procurement processes. Transparency advocates argue that the situation warrants urgent scrutiny, especially given the scale and strategic importance of the K-SWAN project. They demanded an independent review of the tender process to ascertain whether procurement laws and guidelines have been followed in letter and spirit.
Secretary, e-Governance, Pankaj Pandey, said, “We have already given our comments.’’
For the previous article on this issue that was highlighted in TNIE recently about KSWAN, he had said: The first call of the KSWAN 3.0 tender was issued in July 2025 and there were three bidders participating in the tender. However, no one was pre-qualified due to lack of documents and accordingly, the tender scrutiny committee has rejected all the bids and decided to recall the tender as per standard procedure of KTPP (Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act). There was not abrupt cancellation of the tender as such.
Since the original RFP (Request for Proposal) was prepared in 2022, the same had to be updated keeping in mind the ongoing requirements of the Government of Karnataka and requests from various departments to accommodate more number of government offices and hence the capacity was revised. This was duly approved by the Technical Committee that includes independent experts from external institutions including academic institutions.
While revising the RFP, there was no consultation with any of the OEMs and the revised RFP is not favouring any particular OEM rather it is vendor neutral.
Pre-bid queries were discussed again in another technical committee which also includes independent external experts. Some of the queries were accepted by the committee and remaining queries were rejected considering the feasibility and requirement of the project. However each and every query was addressed and clarification was given.
Any OEM declining MAF or not providing support to system integrators is not under the purview of CeG and has to be dealt with by concerned System Integrators with the OEMs, he reasoned. The entire tender exercise is being done with due diligence and to ensure maximum benefit to the government offices in Karnataka. The entire process is also being monitored by the committee of officers, technical experts and independent external experts, he said.
But aggrieved companies did not accept the government’s response as fair. They said, “CISCO proprietary protocols have not been changed until now and this would mean one party is favoured. It would mean a serious disadvantage to other bidders/OEMS.”