CHENNAI: Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) minister S Ramesh on Thursday said all temples under the department’s control will route tenders through the Tamil Nadu government’s e-procurement portal, tntenders.gov.in, to improve transparency and encourage wider participation.Addressing reporters at the HR&CE commissioner’s office, the minister said standardised tender documents, including application forms, undertakings, self-declarations and price bid documents, have been prepared in both Tamil and English for use across all temples.Tender applications can now be submitted only through the government portal, allowing bidders to participate irrespective of their location. Eligibility conditions include mandatory GST and PAN details, along with declarations that applicants are not blacklisted.The minister said bidders will be allowed to revise their quotes below the base price during the tender process, with contracts awarded to the lowest bidder (L1).Under the revised rules, contracts may be cancelled with a 15-day notice, while revenue-generating temple auction rights will be granted for a period of two years.All sales made through shops operating under temple auction rights, including pooja materials, deity photographs, prasadam and other items, will have to be recorded through Point of Sale (POS) machines, with receipts issued for every transaction. Temple administrations will monitor the transactions.Similarly, temple authorities will maintain records of hair collection rights, including details of different categories of hair collected and sold. Receipts will also be mandatory for vehicle parking services operated under auction rights.The minister said goats, chickens and other animals donated by devotees will be assigned identification numbers, with related records verified by temple administrations.The revised conditions also require contractors engaged in cleaning, security, sales and annadhanam cooking services to issue salary slips to employees and maintain payment records.For selected tenders, pre-bid meetings will be open to all eligible participants.The minister said the new tender and auction norms are aimed at ensuring transparency, encouraging greater competition and providing equal opportunities to bidders.He added that the measures are expected to reduce procurement costs, generate savings in temple purchases and increase revenue from auctioned temple rights.
