‘Foul play' alleged over solo BMC MRI tenders
A technical team comprising heads of radiology departments is responsible for deciding the required specifications. "These specifications heavily favour Siemens in the bidding process over a number of other companies. At this point, there needs to be a departmental enquiry into it after many years of delay, which impacted patient care," said a senior radiologist at one of the BMC hospitals.
For instance, the tender specifies certain machine requirements, like 64 channels (which receive signals from the body), a gradient strength of 62 to 200 millitesla per meter (which affects image resolution and scan speed), and a 3-tesla rating.
These conditions exclude several other companies like Philips, which offers only 32 channels, and GE Healthcare, which does not feature high shimmering -- mentioned as a requirement in minutes of the health department's meeting -- but provides "auto shimmering" instead.
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Moreover, the radiologist said that when another potential bidder, United Imaging, entered the picture, a new country-specific clause was introduced to disqualify it.
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The tender floated this time states: "Magnet should be manufactured in the USA, Europe, or Japan." United Imaging manufactures this component in China.
A Siemens Healthineers spokesperson said, "The tender's technical committee has engaged in multiple rounds of discussions with all prospective bidders. It is important to note that the specifications outlined in the tender are not unique to Siemens Healthineers.
In fact, such units with comparable specifications have been procured by several government institutions across India."
DMC (CPD) Sandhya Nandedkar said, "We extended it eight times because there was only a single bidder. Earlier tenders were cancelled due to higher quoted rates. The committee has been insisting that these requirements are necessary."
One of the top former BMC officials said an earlier tender was set aside due to the lack of multi-bidder specifications.
"It was turning out to be a more expensive endeavour as well. If the experts specifically wanted that particular machine for technical reasons, they could have opted for proprietary procurement instead of going through the farce of a tender process," said the official.
Dr Neelam Andrade, Director of BMC Hospitals, said, "It was conveyed to all the HoDs that the terms should be such that multiple bidders can participate.
We do not know why other companies chose not to come forward."
A radiology HoD from one of the hospitals said, "We want to buy a high-end MRI for our poor patients, and we design the specifications accordingly. It's not that we want to favour Siemens; it's not our fault that no one else bids."
A representative from one of the companies that participated in BMC's recent pre-bid meeting said, "One can bid only if there's a chance of winning. If the terms and conditions make it clear we won't win, we don't invest in the fees and earnest money deposits."
BMC's AMC (health) Vipin Sharma and DMC (health) Sharad Ughade did not respond to queries till press time.
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