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IBM, HP opt out of UIDAI bid
By siliconindia
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Tuesday, 17 May 2011, 19:59 IST
New Delhi: The Unique Identity Development Authority of India (UIDAI) has asked vendors to submit their proposals for one of the biggest outsourcing contracts. The selected vendor will manage all IT and the national repository which will contain data of all Indian citizens, reports The Economic Times.
Only large firms with at least 4,000 people and sales of 
6,000 crore in the last three years were allowed to bid and only selected vendors will be allowed to manage the IT infrastructures for the project.
IBM and HP, the technology firms, have opted out from bidding for the 2,000 crore outsourcing contract.They have got selected and participated in all pre-bids but they declined to say anything about why they have opted out from participating in one of the most prestigious and large projects in India.
As these major companies have dropped out from bidding, the other technology firms like, Accenture, Wipro, TCS, HCL and Mahindra Satyam will go to the next stage and will start their negotiations with the UID officials. They had submitted bids on Monday at UIDAI headquarters.
The tech firms had earlier complained to Unique ID Authority of being biased towards products of certain vendors (EMC Corp and Cisco). After this the authority postponed the bidding last month and made changes to the tender specifications. The vendors who decided not to bid said that it was a decision by Global HQs not to participate in bidding.
The UIDAI project aims of giving 600 million Unique ID numbers by 2014, but the selection of the IT vendors at the right time and the implementation of the project seem to be critical.
Commenting in the matter, UIDAI officials said that it is up to the companies to bid. A UIDAI spokesperson said, "Some who opted out have earlier participated as equipment vendors. We will take about three months to decide on the winner from the bidders."
6,000 crore in the last three years were allowed to bid and only selected vendors will be allowed to manage the IT infrastructures for the project.
IBM and HP, the technology firms, have opted out from bidding for the 2,000 crore outsourcing contract.They have got selected and participated in all pre-bids but they declined to say anything about why they have opted out from participating in one of the most prestigious and large projects in India.
As these major companies have dropped out from bidding, the other technology firms like, Accenture, Wipro, TCS, HCL and Mahindra Satyam will go to the next stage and will start their negotiations with the UID officials. They had submitted bids on Monday at UIDAI headquarters.
The tech firms had earlier complained to Unique ID Authority of being biased towards products of certain vendors (EMC Corp and Cisco). After this the authority postponed the bidding last month and made changes to the tender specifications. The vendors who decided not to bid said that it was a decision by Global HQs not to participate in bidding.
The UIDAI project aims of giving 600 million Unique ID numbers by 2014, but the selection of the IT vendors at the right time and the implementation of the project seem to be critical.
Commenting in the matter, UIDAI officials said that it is up to the companies to bid. A UIDAI spokesperson said, "Some who opted out have earlier participated as equipment vendors. We will take about three months to decide on the winner from the bidders."
