CIL to sign transparency agreement for procurements

Kolkata, July 10(UNI): In a bid to check corruption in high value contracts, Coal India Limited (CIL) will sign an integrity pact (IP) with Transparency International India to set up a mechanism for a major chunk of its global procurements in the eleventh plan period.

Announcing this here today, CIL Chairman Partha Sarathi Bhattacharyya said the mechanism was required to bring in transparency in all major procurement contracts the company was about to enter to meet the targeted rapid growth in coal production from both opencast and underground mines during the period.

The measure CIL is going to take following in the toes of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), is likely to be made mandatory in all public sector units, including Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL).

"We feel it will contain corruption and set up a level of transparency in the procurment contracts that we need to meet the target of 160 million tonne increase in production by 2012 from the present 520.5 million tonne," Mr Bhattacharyay said.

The CIL Chairman informed that the present annual procurement by all the subsidiaries of the company was valued at Rs. 10,000 crore.

The agreement, which will cover 70 to 75 per cent of the procurment in the first phase and all the tenders to be put on websites in the second phase.

"The pact requires buyers and vendors to commit on not paying any kind of bribes and make available every information to every body, failing which a penalty will be charged," the CIL Chairman said.

While the pact will be signed by the bidders and CIL against each tender, a panel of external monitors, comprising eminent people of 'impeccable integrity', would be set up in consultation with CVC to oversee all contracts valued above Rs. five crore, Mr Bhattacharyay said.

Integrity pact is a tool devised by Transparency International worlwide to fight corruption in public contracting. "It is according to the rating of Transparency International that India stands at 83 position. It has been thought that this pact may be an effective way to deal with the problems of complaints and counter complaints in case of large public tenders in CIL," the Chairman said.

The decision to sign an MoU for the proposed integrity pact was taken during a meeting here yesterday, which was attended among others by the CIL Chairman and all top rung officers of its subsidiaries, besides the Central Vigilance Commission(CVC) Secretary, the Coal India Secretary, former ONGC Chairman Subir Raha and Transparency International India Managing Director Admiral(Retd.) R H Tahiliani.

UNI