Gandhinagar: The Government of Gujarat today in its reaction to Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil’s allegations regarding contract with private telecom operator Vodafone said the reports pertaining to allegations made are far from truth.

‘A pact with Vodafone is in practice after transparent tender process. Earlier pact ended in year 2017 after which new tender process was initiated through transparent process. Special emphasis was given on lowest rate, uninterrupted connectivity and best technical facilities. A tender draft was created accordingly. During the process BSNL couldn’t qualify in technical bid, and therefore BSNL couldn’t enter financial bid round. Vodafone was ahead of other service providers in both technical and financial bid,’ a statement issued by government said.

‘ In year 2018, as per the conditions made in ongoing contract, Vodafone had offered highest 59.3% discount. While BSNL’s market rate for post paid service is Rs 325 to Rs 525, Vodafone has offered monthly rental as low as Rs 61.05. Moreover BSNL had not started 4G service while Vodafone is providing 4G service which results into faster communication and data processing,’ the statement further said.

‘When tender process was done in year 2015, Vodafone had offered 48% discount in base rate against which BSNL had offered only 25% discount and therefore Vodafone was chosen over BSNL,’ the government claimed in statement.

DeshGujarat