BVG partner had no role in drafting ambulance tender: State to HC

MUMBAI: The state government on Friday told the Bombay high court that SSG Transporte Sanitario, a Spanish medical transport company and a consortium partner with the BVG group, never acted as an advisor on the tender for procurement of emergency medical (ambulance) services in the state.

The submission was made while a division bench comprising chief justice Alok Aradhe and justice Makarand Karnik was hearing a public interest litigation filed by political activist Vikas Lawande. The PIL claimed “gross irregularities” while awarding the contract for acquiring and operating 1,756 life-support ambulances to a consortium in which the BVG group was a partner.

According to the PIL, SSG Transporte Sanitario signed an MoU with the state government during the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, in January 2023 to provide consultancy services towards the provision of emergency medical services in Maharashtra. The tender document was prepared in September 2023 by Sumeet Facilities and Pradeep Reddy, a person closely associated with SSG Transporte Sanitario; whereas a consortium comprising Sumeet Facilities, BVG India and SSG Transporte Sanitario was the sole bidder for the tender, the PIL alleged.

“I have categorically stated in my (Maharashtra government’s) affidavit that the tender had been made by my (state’s) tender committee. Even if we assume that one of the respondents (consortium partner) had anything to do with drafting the tender, there is no allegations that he drafted the tender in such a manner that the tender clauses were tailormade to exclude others from bidding,” advocate general Dr Birendra Saraf told the court.

The January 2023 MoU between the state government and SSG Transporte Sanitario pertained to the establishment of an emergency response service number like 911 in the United States, which remained on paper, he told the court. No work that was assigned to SSG Transporte Sanitario, he added, asserting that the tender was drafted based on suggestions from an expert committee.

Although a forensic audit regarding alleged misappropriation of funds in the award of the tender was ongoing, it did not preclude the tender process from continuing, the advocate general said, addressing concerns raised by the bench.

However, in a statement issued on Saturday, Sumeet Facilities claimed that the MoU at Davos was signed by OST Inc., an American IT company that was not part of the consortium, for a techno-feasibility study of having an emergency services number--112--akin to 911 in the USA. It added that such a techno-feasibility study never happened, and the MoU was never taken ahead by the government.