Abingdonboy
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M-MRCA Commercial Bids Expire Tomorrow, What Now?
The sealed commercial bids of the six competitors in the Indian M-MRCA fighter competition expire tomorrow. I spoke to officials at the six competing companies said they hadn't heard from the government, and were clueless about what happened next. So in under 36 hours, one of the following should happen:
1. The government will in all likelihood asks the six vendors to extend the validity of their commercial bids (though it hasn't asked them at least until the time this post goes on). In the first week of April, the government asked the six vendors to submit revised technical offsets bids. Tomorrow at midnight, the bids expire. In the past, requests for extensions have been provided with fair advance notice. This time, it's 36 hours and the vendors still haven't heard from the government. Foreseeing this eventuality, the vendors have probably kept their paperwork ready for the validity extension. Either way, the government can always ask for the extension after the bids expire, so this deadline isn't really a DEAD-line. Phooey.
2. If procedure permits, the government only requests those found technically compliant to extend the validity of their commercial bids for onward negotiations, and allows the others' bids to expire. An implicit down-select if you will.
3. The government announces its legendary explicit down-select -- fat chance of that happening.
4. The government cancels the M-MRCA tender. Yeah, right.
Livefist: M-MRCA Commercial Bids Expire Tomorrow, What Now?
One has to ask just WTF is going on at the MoD? What do they think they are doing? Deadline after deadline missed. Is this because they keep underestimating the workload? They are incredibly ineffiecnt at achieving the required work by the deadline?
Maybe this is a smart move by MoD (timing wise) as like Shiv said they can only ask the ones who they want (ie shortlist) to resubmit making it a de facto shortlisting and by the end of the week we will have the coveted MMRCA shortlist! We can only dream (it is strange though with only 36 hours to go that the MoD has not asked the companies to resubmit well in advance as usual, is this just sloppiness on MoD part or something more?).
Seriously does anyone know what the MoD officials who are assigned to this Competition do all day? The technical bids were submitted many months ago what more needs to be done? And after this let's not forget. That the final chosen plane's com
Any and MoD have to sit down and negotiate final costing and contractual arrangements? Oh joy? India is drowning in paper work and dieing from beauacracy! If the MMRCA wasn't worth so much most of the companies would have pulled out long ago, I dread to think what these officials and other defence officials think of the Indian MoD.