GCC Under State Audit After Floating 14,543 Tenders in a Single Year

The state finance department is conducting a detailed audit of tenders floated by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) after the civic body issued an unusually high 14,543 tenders in the last financial year, more than three times its typical annual average.

GCC Commissioner GS Sameeran disclosed the development during the civic body's monthly council meeting on Friday. The civic body usually floats between 4,000 and 4,500 tenders annually.

Sameeran stated that the audit covers projects taken up without adhering to the prescribed approval and tendering framework. He noted that multiple works initiated during the previous financial year put pressure on budgetary allocations without being registered in the corporation's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system or securing administrative sanction. In some cases, works were carried out without floating tenders at all.

The issue emerged after DMK councillor R Sriramalu raised questions during the meeting regarding why work orders had not been issued for several tendered projects.

Explaining the required protocol, the commissioner noted that civic projects must follow a mandatory sequence: administrative sanction, financial approval, ERP entry, tender process, bidder selection, issuance of the letter of award, and finally the work order. Sameeran stated that when this procedure is bypassed, such issues arise. He added that the tenders under scrutiny will be reviewed, an explanation will be presented at the next council meeting, and appropriate action will be taken based on the audit findings.

The audit comes as the civic body navigates significant financial constraints and mounting contractor dues. To address immediate cash-flow needs, including pre-monsoon expenditures and pending payments, the council on Friday approved availing an overdraft facility of Rs 300 crore.

As of August 19, the civic body had pending bills amounting to Rs 2,090 crore, including Rs 1,280 crore in capital expenditure bills and Rs 809 crore in revenue expenditure bills. Of this total, Rs 741 crore has been discounted through RXIL under the Trade Receivables Discounting System.

Under the approved overdraft plan, the corporation will raise Rs 150 crore against a temporary fixed deposit sourced from available fund balances, including the Nirbhaya Fund and the State Disaster Mitigation Fund. The remaining Rs 150 crore will be obtained as a general overdraft to settle overdue bills.