Jharkhand's Grain ATM project gets only 1 bidder, EoI deadline to be extended

The Jharkhand government’s flagship Grain ATM project that aims at modernising the public distribution system has failed to attract more than one bidder even after completion of the second deadline on March 23, an official said on Sunday.

The government is now contemplating extending the last date for submitting the expression of interest by a week or so, he said.

The food and public distribution department had planned to set up Grain ATMs at 10 locations across the state to check leakages in the supply chain.

The primary focus was to install these multi-commodity automated machines at high-volume fair price shops and state food corporation godowns in populated areas by June this year, the official said.

The department also planned to set up Grain ATMs at more than 2,600 fair price shops in the state, he said.

It had accordingly floated an expression of interest (EoI) for the project in February and extended the deadline for submitting bids till March 23. Till now, only one bidder has shown interest in the project. To finalise it, we need at least two bidders.

We are now planning to go for another extension of the last date by a week or so to invite more bidders, food, public distribution and consumer affairs director Dilip Tirkey told

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