Maharashtra Seamless wrote to the steel ministry for the redressal of the unfair rejection of its casing pipe tender for the Cauvery basin drilling. In the letter the company claims that it is an “approved source” of specialized steel required in the project and that 40-50 percent of its existing capacity “is idle these days due to huge imports”.

Jul 25, 2023

Maharashtra Seamless has written a letter to the steel ministry regarding the unfair rejection of its casing pipe tender for the Cauvery basin drilling, and seeking redressal for the matter. The letter states that the company is an “approved source”, that is, supplier of such specialized steel — called Q-125 casing pipes — and has been supplying to ONGC, OIL and other PSUs since 1992. The letter noted, “We would like to confirm that we are capable of manufacturing the above Q-125 casing pipes and wish to participate in the subject tender and in case of award of this contract to us we will supply the required Premium Connection Casing Pipes to ONGC for meeting their urgent requirement.” Maharashtra Seamless stated that its management has “invested significantly” on development of new products in India like drill pipe, oxygen cylinder pipe, sub-sea, low wall thickness, etc. 

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With an installed capacity of 8.5 lakh tonne per annum to produce seamless pipes and tubes, the company claimed that 40-50 percent of its existing capacity “is idle these days due to huge imports”. “This order is very much important for us to utilize our idle capacity,” the company mentioned in the letter, adding that the company also has the requisite technical backing and tie-ups to go ahead with the manufacturing process. As per tender documents available, the value of these orders is close to INR 400 crore. The letter also stated that approvals were sought (across categories) in July 2022, December 2022 and then again March 2023. Earlier this year, in March and June, a Grievance Committee meeting chaired by a senior Steel Ministry official approved the proposals. “However, approval to procure the required casing pipes through ICB tender (international competitive bidding) is still awaited from the Ministry,” the letter said.