The catering contract, signed by the Organising Committee (OC) of the Commonwealth Games-2010 with the Delaware North (Australia), worth Rs 66.59 crores, is now under the scanner of the revenue intelligence agencies.
Sources in the agencies said that while signing the catering contract, even the Olympic formula of awarding the contract to one company for both catering as well as supply of equipment, was allegedly violated. The Delaware North has signed an agreement worth Rs 66.59 crores for catering and M/S PKL, London, signed an agreement for installation of kitchen equi-pment worth Rs 9.50 crores with the OC.
“The circumstances under which the OC signed the agreement with two companies for catering need to be examined,” source said. The expression of interest for the catering tender was floated on June 27, 2008, following which 25 players had submitted their bids. The tenders were floated in August. In the original contract, the total allocation for equipment was just Rs 20 crores. The OC was supposed to hire kitchen equipment on rental basis as part of the same catering budget.
The delay in awarding the contract has forced OC to purchase equipment for the firm which will install them, sources said, adding that the OC will also have to pay an additional bill of around Rs 10 crore for shipping and another Rs 11 crore for installation. Thus, the additional cost which the OC will have to bear is Rs 33 crores, sources said. Agencies may question top officials of the OC and foreign firms which have signed the agreements, sources said.