Govt to procure six fast patrol boats for armed forces, issues RFP
New Delhi (PTI): The government plans to procure six fast patrol boats for the armed forces, essentially required to acquire capability of small team insertion for "surveillance and reconnaissance", according to the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued for it.
The opening date for the 'Request for Technical and Commercial Proposal for Procurement of six fast patrol boats (FPBs) under Buy (Indian-IDDM) category', is October 21, and the closing date is January 13, 2026.
'Buy (Indian-IDDM)' category refers to the procurement of products from an Indian vendor that have been indigenously designed, developed and manufactured with a minimum of 50 per cent indigenous content on cost basis of the total contract value.
According to the salient aspects and timelines of the acquisition mentioned in the RFP, the minimum indigenous content should be 60 per cent.
The Ministry of Defence "intends to procure quantity six Fast Patrol Boats and seeks participation in the procurement process from prospective bidders subject to requirements", the RFP says.
The FPBs are "essentially required to acquire capability of small team insertion for surveillance and reconnaissance, patrolling and domination of water bodies, deployment for intervention operation of high speed crafts, in support of direct action and operations in shallow and muddy waters", it further says.
According to the document, the boat shall also be employed to carry out patrolling and surveillance of conflict zone.
The end user of the equipment is the Indian armed forces, the RFP says.
"The government of India invites responses to this request only from Original
Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) or Authorised Vendors subject to the condition that in case where the same equipment is offered by more than one of the aforementioned parties, preference would be given to the OEM," it adds.
The last date for submission of pre-bid queries is November 11 while the last date and time for bid submission is "January 13, 2026, 1300 hrs".
The RFP is being issued with "no financial commitment", and the Ministry of Defence "reserves the right to withdraw the RFP and change or vary any part thereof or foreclose the procurement case at any stage", it says.
The government of India also reserves the right to disqualify any bidder should it be so necessary at any stage "on grounds of national security", according to the RFP.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
