Railways scraps tender after vendors complain specs might favour Chinese firm: Sources

Following the rising anti-China sentiment post the violent standoff at LAC, sources have reported that the Railways have scrapped a tender for thermal cameras after receiving feedback from vendors that specifications mentioned for the procurement of the equipment may have favoured a Chinese company. According to PTI sources, the tender for 800 such cameras was floated by Railway PSU RailTel last month for the AI-based surveillance cameras that measure body temperatures of individuals and even detect whether a person is wearing a mask or not. Earlier, the Indian railways had terminated a Chinese company's contract worth Rs 471 crores pertaining to signalling and telecommunication work. 

"We received representation from other vendors that they can also offer the solution. Hence, to have wider participation and competition, we have cancelled the Expression of Interest (EOI) and are going in for open EOI," PTI quoted RailTel spokesperson. 

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Sources, however, said the tender was scrapped after many Indian vendors in letters to RailTel raised concerns that the specifications mentioned in the tender favoured Chinese company Hikvision, one of the world's largest video surveillance companies which currently dominates India's CCTV market. 

"Specifications issued are biased to Chinese OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) i.e. Hikvision, Specs clearly mentioned DeepinMind technology which is a proprietary feature of Hikvision NVRs," one of the letters accessed by PTI from an Indian vendor to RailTel said. 

READ | Amid India-China Faceoff, Railway PSU Cancels Chinese Company's Contract Worth 471 Crore

India bans Chinese Apps

This move comes two days after India banned 59 Chinese Apps including Tik-Tok. The Centre has stated that it has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of these apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers that have locations outside India. Hence, in a move to protect the sovereignty of Indian Cyberspace and to ensure the interests of crores of Indian mobile users, the government has stated that this was a major blow to China’s Digital Silk Route ambitions, amid the ongoing India-China standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

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Chinese goods boycott sentiment

After 20 soldiers were martyred at the LAC, several groups across the nation have protested against the sale of Chinese goods. Moreover, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL)- a PSU under the aegis of the Ministry of Railways has terminated a Chinese company’s contract. The BCCI too has called a council meeting to rethink its sponsorship from Chinese companies. Centre too has taken several steps to decrease Chinese imports to make India more self-reliant. Apart from these, recently several Indian companies with Chinese funding have faced the ire of the public as 'ban Chinese goods' sentiment grows stronger.

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