Amaravati: A fresh controversy has surfaced over the tender process for four proposed medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh, with conflicting claims over who submitted the lone bid received for the Adoni medical college.

Medical and Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav clarified that the confusion arose due to a communication gap in the tender documentation. While initial reports suggested that KIMS had submitted the sole bid for the Adoni project, the KIMS management later categorically denied having participated in the tender process.

The Minister explained that the bid was actually submitted in the name of Dr Prem Chand Shah and not by KIMS as an institution. Since Dr. Prem Chand is associated with the KIMS group, the bid was mistakenly recorded and reported as having been submitted by KIMS, leading to widespread confusion. He said the government had verified the matter after KIMS issued a clarification stating that it had not officially bid for the project.

The state government had invited tenders under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for establishing medical colleges at Adoni, Markapuram, Madanapalle and Pulivendula.

However, only one bid was received, and that too solely for the Adoni medical college.

Satya Kumar alleged that the poor response to the tenders was the result of intimidation by opposition leaders.

He claimed that some YSRCP leaders had allegedly made threatening phone calls to potential bidders, discouraging them from participating. He also recalled former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s earlier public statements warning that companies entering PPP projects would be ‘troubled’ if the YSRCP returned to power, which, according to the Minister, had created fear among investors.

Despite the limited response, the minister said that, following Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s directions, the government would hold discussions with the single bidder for the Adoni college and move forward with the project.

For the remaining three medical colleges, the government is considering relaxing certain tender conditions and issuing a fresh notification.

He also pointed out that the Centre has agreed to provide a 40 per cent subsidy for operating medical colleges under the PPP model, raising expectations that revised tenders with additional concessions would attract better participation.