<p>Three top IT companies have raised doubts over the evaluation of bids for a Rs 1,642-crore Aadhaar-related project floated by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) -- a statutory body mandated to collect the data on Aadhaar.</p>.<p>The three tech majors -- Wipro, IBM and Dell -- in various letters (in possession of DH) to the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and UIDAI, have raised objections to the participation of HP-Enterprise in the bidding process. They alleged that the evaluation of the bid process was ‘unfair’, and pointed to the composition of the evaluation team which included members from a private consultant, among other issues. The letters were written between June and August 2020.</p>.<p>The project, for which request for proposal was floated in 2019, pertains to contracting a managed services infrastructure provider (MSIP) to build India’s largest private cloud for data management that would be automated. The bid evaluation process commenced earlier this year.</p>.<p>Four MNCs -- Wipro, IBM, TCS and HP-Enterprise (HPE) -- had bid for the project in 2019.</p>.<p>Dell, on the other hand, refrained in keeping with a 2012 CVC circular, that prevented original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their SIs (systems integrators) from participating in the same project.</p>.<p>TCS, which also partcipated in the bidding process, is the system integrator for HP-Enterprises.</p>.<p>“Sir, the list is long but we as Wipro, have highlighted important points which cannot be ignored by the respected evaluation team... We plead our case with you and seek your immediate attention and action to address the situation,” said Wipro in its letter to CVC and UIDAI.</p>.<p>In another letter, Dell had sought a meeting with government officials to “highlight these non-compliances”.</p>.<p>While UIDAI did not respond to queries sent by DH, HPE said: “Will work towards the successful execution of this critical project of national importance.” Wipro declined to comment on the issue. IBM, TCS and Dell did not respond to queries sent by DH.</p>
<p>Three top IT companies have raised doubts over the evaluation of bids for a Rs 1,642-crore Aadhaar-related project floated by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) -- a statutory body mandated to collect the data on Aadhaar.</p>.<p>The three tech majors -- Wipro, IBM and Dell -- in various letters (in possession of DH) to the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and UIDAI, have raised objections to the participation of HP-Enterprise in the bidding process. They alleged that the evaluation of the bid process was ‘unfair’, and pointed to the composition of the evaluation team which included members from a private consultant, among other issues. The letters were written between June and August 2020.</p>.<p>The project, for which request for proposal was floated in 2019, pertains to contracting a managed services infrastructure provider (MSIP) to build India’s largest private cloud for data management that would be automated. The bid evaluation process commenced earlier this year.</p>.<p>Four MNCs -- Wipro, IBM, TCS and HP-Enterprise (HPE) -- had bid for the project in 2019.</p>.<p>Dell, on the other hand, refrained in keeping with a 2012 CVC circular, that prevented original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their SIs (systems integrators) from participating in the same project.</p>.<p>TCS, which also partcipated in the bidding process, is the system integrator for HP-Enterprises.</p>.<p>“Sir, the list is long but we as Wipro, have highlighted important points which cannot be ignored by the respected evaluation team... We plead our case with you and seek your immediate attention and action to address the situation,” said Wipro in its letter to CVC and UIDAI.</p>.<p>In another letter, Dell had sought a meeting with government officials to “highlight these non-compliances”.</p>.<p>While UIDAI did not respond to queries sent by DH, HPE said: “Will work towards the successful execution of this critical project of national importance.” Wipro declined to comment on the issue. IBM, TCS and Dell did not respond to queries sent by DH.</p>
