The Madhya Pradesh E-Tendering Scam

“Madhya Pradesh's e-tendering (e-procurement) portal, introduced to digitise government contract bidding, was designed to make the tendering process tamper-proof, transparent, and free from human manipulation of bid prices.”

— Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation (MPSEDC), State agency operating the e-procurement portal used by government departments · 1 January 2012

This reflects the general stated rationale for adopting e-procurement systems rather than a verified quotation from a specific MPSEDC policy document, which this entry has not reviewed directly.

That bids submitted through the state e-procurement portal would remain sealed, unaltered, and free from unauthorised access until the official opening, ensuring contracts were awarded on a fair, competitive basis.

Madhya Pradesh government procurement rules and IT security requirements for the e-procurement system, alongside IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act provisions against tampering with public records for illicit gain.

In force from 1 January 2012

An investigation -- reportedly triggered around January 2018 and escalating through mid-2018 -- alleged that the MPSEDC e-procurement portal had been tampered with via unauthorised access across nine separate tendering processes, altering bid prices to favour five private companies based in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Vadodara and Bhopal, across contracts worth around Rs 3,000 crore spanning multiple state government departments. CERT-In's technical review reportedly confirmed that e-tenders had been 'modified' through unauthorised access to the software. Madhya Pradesh's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) registered an FIR against unidentified officials of five departments as well as unnamed politicians, and separately raided the Bhopal office of Osmo IT Solutions, an IT firm whose systems' IP addresses were allegedly traced to the tampering; three of its directors -- Vinay Choudhary, Varun Chaturvedi and Sumit Golwalkar -- were arrested. The scam surfaced during the final months of the BJP state government led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan and became a prominent issue in the 2018 Madhya Pradesh assembly election campaign, including criticism from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi; the PMO reportedly declined to disclose action-taken details on the matter in response to an RTI query around September 2018. The Supreme Court subsequently directed the trial court to complete the trial and pronounce judgment within a set period after rejecting a bail plea from one of the accused, who had already spent about two years in custody. This entry's research could not confirm the eventual outcome of the EOW's investigation or trial -- including whether any bureaucrats or politicians were ever formally named or convicted, and whether the arrested IT-firm directors were convicted, acquitted, or remain under trial.

As of 1 January 2019

The Rs 3,000 crore figure represents the combined value of contracts across nine tendering processes and five departments alleged to have been affected by the portal tampering, per EOW's investigation as reported in contemporaneous media. No court-confirmed final loss or recovery figure was found.

1. 1 Jan 2018Announcement
   Irregularities in e-tendering portal detected

   Authorities detect signs of unauthorised tampering in the Madhya Pradesh e-procurement portal affecting multiple tender processes.

2. 1 Jun 2018Milestone
   EOW registers FIR; scam becomes public

   Madhya Pradesh's Economic Offences Wing registers an FIR against unidentified officials across five departments and unnamed politicians over the alleged Rs 3,000 crore e-tendering manipulation.

3. 15 Jun 2018Milestone
   Osmo IT Solutions raided; three directors arrested

   EOW raids the Bhopal office of Osmo IT Solutions and arrests directors Vinay Choudhary, Varun Chaturvedi and Sumit Golwalkar, alleging their firm's systems were used to tamper with the portal.

4. 11 Sept 2018Status
   PMO declines to disclose action-taken details

   The Prime Minister's Office reportedly declines to share action-taken details on the e-tendering scam in response to an RTI query, amid the case's prominence in the 2018 state election campaign.

5. 1 Jan 2019Status
   Supreme Court orders time-bound trial completion

   The Supreme Court, while rejecting a bail plea from an accused who had spent about two years in custody, directs the Madhya Pradesh trial court to complete the trial and pronounce judgment within a set timeframe.

Madhya Pradesh's EOW registered an FIR against unidentified departmental officials and politicians, and separately arrested three directors of Osmo IT Solutions over the alleged portal tampering. The Supreme Court directed the trial court to complete the case within a set period after one accused's bail plea was rejected. This entry's research could not confirm the eventual trial outcome for the arrested IT-firm directors, nor whether any specific officials or politicians were ever formally named, chargesheeted, or convicted.

• The final trial outcome for the three arrested Osmo IT Solutions directors has not been confirmed.
• Whether any government officials or politicians were ever formally named, chargesheeted, or convicted in connection with the alleged tampering has not been confirmed.
• The exact date the Supreme Court issued its trial-completion order, and whether that deadline was met, has not been confirmed.
• Whether any of the nine allegedly tampered tender awards were cancelled, re-awarded, or otherwise judicially invalidated has not been confirmed.