MG wins Rs 1.4-cr bid to provide data on natural resources
GMDC awards contract to science institute to carry out topographical survey, geological mapping and to assess bauxite reserves in 31 villages of Jamnagar
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Saturday, February 04, 2012 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20120204201202040141152525b6c62c9/MG-wins-Rs-14cr-bid-to-provide-data-on-natural-resources.html)
It is a shot in the arm for research in the state. For the first time in Gujarat, and probably in the country, the government has awarded a commercial tender to provide data on quality and quantity of natural resources to a single department of an educational institute. This will not only boost research at M G Science Institute, which has won the contract, but also encourage other science colleges to follow the same path. It will also give fillip to interaction between industry and academic institutes.
The GMDC Science & Research Centre awarded the Rs 1.4-crore project to the geology department of M G Science to carry out topographical survey, geological mapping and reserve estimation of bauxite, laterite and limestone deposits in Jamnagar district.
Students and teachers of the institute will carry out survey and mapping of about 7,000 hectares of land in 31 villages of Jamnagar district. The assessment of the mineral reserves has to be carried out with the help of satellite images, exploration data and GIS techniques within six months.
R D Shah, head of the geology department, said, “We bid for the tender after GMDC floated the e-tender on its website in June 2011. It was in two parts: a technical bid and a price bid. Of the 15 companies that sent their technical proposals, 11were selected, including us. However, on the price front we quoted Rs 2,200, which was the lowest and won the contract.”
This project will not only help students and teachers get hands-on experience, but also get paid for the work.
M G Science Principal B K Jain said, “Of late, fewer number of students have been pursuing pure science, which offers many opportunities, especially research. Private companies are earning crores of rupees through research. With the GMDC awarding such type of commercial work to a single department of an educational institute for the first time in the state, this will surely encourage students to research.”
Around 100 BSc and MSc 100 students will be directly on indirectly involved with the work. They will get a stipend for it, Jain said.
Of the total money, some amount will be spent on sourcing satellite images from NASA, while analysis will be done using GIS software procured from private companies. Digital mapping will be outsourced, but students will be involved with it, Jain said. The remaining money will be spent on further research and sourcing equipment at the institute.
“Once this project is completed, we will bid for other commercial projects. We will also help other colleges if they need out support in such endeavours,” he said.
Will MG live up to its promise?
The one pertinent question that bothered the GMDC was whether the institute would be able to carry out such a huge task. To find out things if were moving in the right direction, the managing director and board members of the company visited the institute to check its laboratory and the work they had done in the past. Only after they were convinced that the institute would live up to its claims did the company go ahead with the project.
D U Vyas, general manager, geology and technical department, GMDC, said, “We have followed all the tender procedures that were online. Technical experts selected companies based on their bids. M G met the criteria. Then the price bid was considered. Since the institute had quoted the lowest price among all 11 companies, they were considered. Thereafter, the tender committee negotiated with the institute, which lowered the quoted amount by Rs 200. We have full faith that the institute will do quality work in the stipulated time.”
It is a shot in the arm for research in the state. For the first time in Gujarat, and probably in the country, the government has awarded a commercial tender to provide data on quality and quantity of natural resources to a single department of an educational institute. This will not only boost research at M G Science Institute, which has won the contract, but also encourage other science colleges to follow the same path. It will also give fillip to interaction between industry and academic institutes.
The GMDC Science & Research Centre awarded the Rs 1.4-crore project to the geology department of M G Science to carry out topographical survey, geological mapping and reserve estimation of bauxite, laterite and limestone deposits in Jamnagar district.
Students and teachers of the institute will carry out survey and mapping of about 7,000 hectares of land in 31 villages of Jamnagar district. The assessment of the mineral reserves has to be carried out with the help of satellite images, exploration data and GIS techniques within six months.
R D Shah, head of the geology department, said, “We bid for the tender after GMDC floated the e-tender on its website in June 2011. It was in two parts: a technical bid and a price bid. Of the 15 companies that sent their technical proposals, 11were selected, including us. However, on the price front we quoted Rs 2,200, which was the lowest and won the contract.”
This project will not only help students and teachers get hands-on experience, but also get paid for the work.
M G Science Principal B K Jain said, “Of late, fewer number of students have been pursuing pure science, which offers many opportunities, especially research. Private companies are earning crores of rupees through research. With the GMDC awarding such type of commercial work to a single department of an educational institute for the first time in the state, this will surely encourage students to research.”
Around 100 BSc and MSc 100 students will be directly on indirectly involved with the work. They will get a stipend for it, Jain said.
Of the total money, some amount will be spent on sourcing satellite images from NASA, while analysis will be done using GIS software procured from private companies. Digital mapping will be outsourced, but students will be involved with it, Jain said. The remaining money will be spent on further research and sourcing equipment at the institute.
“Once this project is completed, we will bid for other commercial projects. We will also help other colleges if they need out support in such endeavours,” he said.
Will MG live up to its promise?
The one pertinent question that bothered the GMDC was whether the institute would be able to carry out such a huge task. To find out things if were moving in the right direction, the managing director and board members of the company visited the institute to check its laboratory and the work they had done in the past. Only after they were convinced that the institute would live up to its claims did the company go ahead with the project.
D U Vyas, general manager, geology and technical department, GMDC, said, “We have followed all the tender procedures that were online. Technical experts selected companies based on their bids. M G met the criteria. Then the price bid was considered. Since the institute had quoted the lowest price among all 11 companies, they were considered. Thereafter, the tender committee negotiated with the institute, which lowered the quoted amount by Rs 200. We have full faith that the institute will do quality work in the stipulated time.”
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Saturday, February 04, 2012 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/20120204201202040141152525b6c62c9/MG-wins-Rs-14cr-bid-to-provide-data-on-natural-resources.html)
It is a shot in the arm for research in the state. For the first time in Gujarat, and probably in the country, the government has awarded a commercial tender to provide data on quality and quantity of natural resources to a single department of an educational institute. This will not only boost research at M G Science Institute, which has won the contract, but also encourage other science colleges to follow the same path. It will also give fillip to interaction between industry and academic institutes.
The GMDC Science & Research Centre awarded the Rs 1.4-crore project to the geology department of M G Science to carry out topographical survey, geological mapping and reserve estimation of bauxite, laterite and limestone deposits in Jamnagar district.
Students and teachers of the institute will carry out survey and mapping of about 7,000 hectares of land in 31 villages of Jamnagar district. The assessment of the mineral reserves has to be carried out with the help of satellite images, exploration data and GIS techniques within six months.
R D Shah, head of the geology department, said, “We bid for the tender after GMDC floated the e-tender on its website in June 2011. It was in two parts: a technical bid and a price bid. Of the 15 companies that sent their technical proposals, 11were selected, including us. However, on the price front we quoted Rs 2,200, which was the lowest and won the contract.”
This project will not only help students and teachers get hands-on experience, but also get paid for the work.
M G Science Principal B K Jain said, “Of late, fewer number of students have been pursuing pure science, which offers many opportunities, especially research. Private companies are earning crores of rupees through research. With the GMDC awarding such type of commercial work to a single department of an educational institute for the first time in the state, this will surely encourage students to research.”
Around 100 BSc and MSc 100 students will be directly on indirectly involved with the work. They will get a stipend for it, Jain said.
Of the total money, some amount will be spent on sourcing satellite images from NASA, while analysis will be done using GIS software procured from private companies. Digital mapping will be outsourced, but students will be involved with it, Jain said. The remaining money will be spent on further research and sourcing equipment at the institute.
“Once this project is completed, we will bid for other commercial projects. We will also help other colleges if they need out support in such endeavours,” he said.
Will MG live up to its promise?
The one pertinent question that bothered the GMDC was whether the institute would be able to carry out such a huge task. To find out things if were moving in the right direction, the managing director and board members of the company visited the institute to check its laboratory and the work they had done in the past. Only after they were convinced that the institute would live up to its claims did the company go ahead with the project.
D U Vyas, general manager, geology and technical department, GMDC, said, “We have followed all the tender procedures that were online. Technical experts selected companies based on their bids. M G met the criteria. Then the price bid was considered. Since the institute had quoted the lowest price among all 11 companies, they were considered. Thereafter, the tender committee negotiated with the institute, which lowered the quoted amount by Rs 200. We have full faith that the institute will do quality work in the stipulated time.”
It is a shot in the arm for research in the state. For the first time in Gujarat, and probably in the country, the government has awarded a commercial tender to provide data on quality and quantity of natural resources to a single department of an educational institute. This will not only boost research at M G Science Institute, which has won the contract, but also encourage other science colleges to follow the same path. It will also give fillip to interaction between industry and academic institutes.
The GMDC Science & Research Centre awarded the Rs 1.4-crore project to the geology department of M G Science to carry out topographical survey, geological mapping and reserve estimation of bauxite, laterite and limestone deposits in Jamnagar district.
Students and teachers of the institute will carry out survey and mapping of about 7,000 hectares of land in 31 villages of Jamnagar district. The assessment of the mineral reserves has to be carried out with the help of satellite images, exploration data and GIS techniques within six months.
R D Shah, head of the geology department, said, “We bid for the tender after GMDC floated the e-tender on its website in June 2011. It was in two parts: a technical bid and a price bid. Of the 15 companies that sent their technical proposals, 11were selected, including us. However, on the price front we quoted Rs 2,200, which was the lowest and won the contract.”
This project will not only help students and teachers get hands-on experience, but also get paid for the work.
M G Science Principal B K Jain said, “Of late, fewer number of students have been pursuing pure science, which offers many opportunities, especially research. Private companies are earning crores of rupees through research. With the GMDC awarding such type of commercial work to a single department of an educational institute for the first time in the state, this will surely encourage students to research.”
Around 100 BSc and MSc 100 students will be directly on indirectly involved with the work. They will get a stipend for it, Jain said.
Of the total money, some amount will be spent on sourcing satellite images from NASA, while analysis will be done using GIS software procured from private companies. Digital mapping will be outsourced, but students will be involved with it, Jain said. The remaining money will be spent on further research and sourcing equipment at the institute.
“Once this project is completed, we will bid for other commercial projects. We will also help other colleges if they need out support in such endeavours,” he said.
Will MG live up to its promise?
The one pertinent question that bothered the GMDC was whether the institute would be able to carry out such a huge task. To find out things if were moving in the right direction, the managing director and board members of the company visited the institute to check its laboratory and the work they had done in the past. Only after they were convinced that the institute would live up to its claims did the company go ahead with the project.
D U Vyas, general manager, geology and technical department, GMDC, said, “We have followed all the tender procedures that were online. Technical experts selected companies based on their bids. M G met the criteria. Then the price bid was considered. Since the institute had quoted the lowest price among all 11 companies, they were considered. Thereafter, the tender committee negotiated with the institute, which lowered the quoted amount by Rs 200. We have full faith that the institute will do quality work in the stipulated time.”
