Now, Mahindra Satyam can bid for govt. projects
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Now, Mahindra Satyam can bid for govt. projects
Mumbai: Now, Mahindra Satyam can bid for the government projects without providing financial statements. Mahindra Satyam's financials are in the process of being restated after its Promoter and Former Chairman, Ramalinga Raju, confessed to falsifying the accounts in January this year. After the scam-hit company was taken over by Tech Mahindra, the board under the chairmanship of Kiran Karnik had sought an exemption from providing its financials, so it could be eligible to bid for government projects. So far, Satyam has lost out a railways contract estimated at 100 crore, with the opportunity to more effectively participate in future contracts worth 3,000 crore. It also lost out an enterprise resource planning implementation contract from BSNL for around 250 crore to rival, HCL Infosystems. On the new directive, a Mahindra Satyam official said, "This directive, along with the Mahindra and Mahindra balance sheet, will help us to participate in tenders put by government departments and PSUs. The directive says that the audited financial should not be a point of contention and we (Satyam) should be considered based on our technical proficiency." However, the company is in no mood to contest those bids that it has already lost out to its rivals. The official said, "Earlier, we were not even being invited for bidding; now at least we will be able to participate in them. But there may be still some government contracts where we cannot participate if there are other criteria." Currently, the company is likely to participate in around 15-20 bids from public sector undertakings and government departments. Sanjay Venkatraman, who heads the India business unit at Mahindra Satyam said, "Yes, we are bidding for some projects. These projects range from 20 crore to 100 crore and are in the areas of e-governance and citizen services." The exemption from the ministry of corporate affairs is valid only till December 2009, and the firm is likely to apply for the extension as the restatements of accounts are expected to take up to March 2010.

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