The tender for the ‘Thai Maman Thanga Modiram’ (Uncle’s Gold Ring) scheme, which the Tamil Nadu government is ambitiously launching to provide free 1 gram gold rings to newborn babies, has led to a heated political debate. A total of 4,41,667 rings were purchased at an estimated cost of Rs. 755.83 crore, and 11 leading companies participated in the tender. However, the controversy arose when leading jewellery company Joy Alukkas quoted only one paisa (Rs. 0.01) excluding the price of the gold, including all the additional costs like making, wastage, hallmarking, insurance and transportation.
As per the terms of this tender, the government would pay the actual price of the gold separately based on the then IBJA (Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association) market rate. As the competition was held only on service charges, Joy Alukkas emerged as L1. While the remaining companies were given the opportunity to supply at the L1 price as per the tender rules, only Kalyan Jewellers agreed to the one-paise price. With this, the government decided to allocate 70 percent of the order to Joy Alukkas and 30 percent to Kalyan Jewellers.
The opposition DMK and other parties have expressed various doubts about this tender process. The main question is how the business companies will supply for just one paise when the costs of manufacturing, transportation, insurance, and hallmarking are huge. Critics allege that this is not possible without business benefits or the possibility of making profit in some other form. However, the representatives of the company that won the tender have clarified that since this is a public welfare scheme, they are providing this service as a social responsibility without expecting any business profits. The government has also explained that the L1 selection was completed in a very transparent manner as per the rules. Rs. While the government is bearing the actual cost of gold in the massive Rs 755 crore scheme, the opposition is insisting on a comprehensive explanation of the real reasons behind this one-paisa strategy.
