New Delhi: A Rs 15.7-crore Delhi Police tender for 338 CCTV cameras with facial recognition capabilities across Central and New Delhi has come under the spotlight, with sources in police saying it was part of a modernisation plan conceived two years ago and had no connection with the July protests.Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), in an analysis of the tender documents, flagged concerns over surveillance safeguards, discrepancies in camera quantities and other flaws in the procurement process. The report said the bid, uploaded to the Govt e-Marketplace (GeM), came five days after protests at Jantar Mantar over the NEET paper leak ended.On Oct 11, Delhi Police de-notified Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site and named Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in Shahdara as alternatives.The report claimed, “We found no evidence that the two decisions were coordinated. We can say that the ground the police have chosen for protests is ground they had already chosen to watch with facial recognition.”According to a police source, the proposal was part of the modernisation initiative, which is also being implemented in other states. “It was first conceptualised two years ago, following which approval was sought from the ministry concerned. A detailed project report (DPR) was then prepared and the tender was floated. The tender process is currently underway, and the work order has been issued,” said the source.A senior Delhi Police officer said CCTV cameras were earlier hired on rent for security arrangements along VVIP routes. The proposal to install permanent cameras under the ASUMP modernisation scheme was considered in March 2025 and approved in Sept 2025.An e-bid for 194 cameras, including facial recognition in 10% of fixed and pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras, was invited on May 22 for VVIP routes in North district. A second bid for 338 cameras was issued on July 30 for New Delhi and Central districts. Both tender processes are underway, with installation expected to begin in Dec 2026 or Jan 2027, the officer said.The officer added that Delhi Police’s security unit uses vehicle-mounted jammers to secure routes during VIP movements.According to the report, the tender covers 248 fixed cameras, 43 PTZ cameras and 47 automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras. The five-year contract also includes video management software, storage and related systems. The sites include Ramlila Maidan’s VVIP gate, Turkman Gate, Delhi Gate, Rajghat, India Gate’s C-Hexagon, Mandi House and Patiala House courts.The report flagged the absence of a facial recognition SOP, privacy impact assessment, details of the matching database, accuracy thresholds and safeguards against false matches. The tender specifies 30-day video storage but no retention rules for facial templates, match logs or number plate data.The report also identified 28 tender defects, including mismatched PTZ and ANPR camera counts, specifications apparently copied from an earlier tender, outdated independent monitors and incorrect coordinates placing one camera about 40km east of Delhi.
