Uttar Pradesh has become the first state to float a global tender to procure Covid-19 vaccines, specifying it wants 40 million doses within six months.
At least 6 million doses are to be supplied each month directly to nine warehouses in the state, the government has said, adding that the vaccines can be stored at a temperature varying between -2 to -8 degrees Celsius.
News18 has a copy of the 76-page document of the tender issued by the UP government on May 7.
The pre-bid meeting for the tender will be held via Google meet on May 12 and a deposit of Rs 160 million has been sought for the bids closing on May 21.
The timeline of the tender suggests that UP is expecting the 40 million doses to arrive in batches by end of this year.
“The procurement of Covid vaccine under the tender will be sourced for funds by the UP State Government Budget,” the bid document stated.
Maharashtra was the first last month to express its intent to invite a global tender for vaccines but it is not clear if the tender has been invited as yet.
UP requires 6 million to 8 million doses
The UP tender coincidentally came on a day when the Allahabad High Court asked the UP government to file a detailed report on how it plans to expedite its purchase of vaccines from the global market.
The HC also asked the UP government to vaccinate all residents of the state within the next three to four months. This, however, may not be possible as UP has so far vaccinated only 13.5 million people, against its total population of 230 million.
The bid document stated UP requires at least 6 million to 8 million doses.
It also said a penalty would be levied if the monthly vaccine supplies are late.
“Total supply of 40 million doses shall be completed within six months period of issuance of Letter of Intent,” the document added.
It has said that bidders offering the vaccines should either have their own cold chain transportation system or should have proper contract with a transporting agent having facilities to transport the drugs under cold chain norms from the manufacturing unit to the respective warehouses of UP government.
The nine warehouses are located in Varanasi, Meerut, Lucknow, Agra, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Jhansi, Bareilly and Ayodhya.
“The supply will be prepared and packed with the words — Uttar Pradesh Govt. Supplies — Not for sale,” the bid document added.
News18 two days ago reported that UP was performing the worst in India in terms of jabs given per million population.
All states, including UP, are facing a shortage of vaccine supply from the two Indian manufacturers for the 18-44 population. The new vaccination policy of the government has allowed states to import vaccines for this age group.
Contract Award Conditions
Contract will be awarded to the qualified bidder whose bid has been determined to be “substantially responsive” and with the “lowest evaluated bid, subject to the bidder agreeing to all terms and conditions”, according to the bid document.
It says that in the case of non-acceptance of agreement, the purchaser will proceed to the next lowest evaluated bidder.
“This contract will be called Principal Contract,” the document said.
It, however, added the government shall have the rights to call other eligible firms those are willing to match the lowest bidder rates.
“If such firms are found, then the order quantity may be dispersed in a ratio of 60 per cent for L1 & 40 per cent for those who match L-1. This contract will be called Parallel contract,” the document added, citing if the requirement arises.
A bidder may have the nationality of any country and may be a firm that is a private entity, a government-owned entity or any combination of such entities in the form of a joint venture (JV) under an existing agreement or with the intent to enter into such an agreement supported by a letter of intent, the document said.
“Manufacturing units and manufacturer’s authorised agents (For Imported product only) are eligible to participate in the tender, provided they have valid licence to manufacture or export the items quoted to India as per specifications mentioned in the tender from the Competent Authority or Food and Drugs Administration, Government of India,” the document said.
It added that the vaccines to be supplied must be as per the guidelines issued by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).
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