The TVK government’s promise of transparency in public tenders is facing questions over the ₹5.54 crore work being undertaken to set up Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s new office on the 10th floor of Namakkal Kavignar Maligai in Chennai.
According to a report in The Times of India, three tenders floated by the Public Works Department (PWD) for the Chief Minister’s Office were not initially published online, despite the department routinely using the e-tendering system for government works.
The tender process has also raised questions over whether work began before the contractor selection process was formally completed.
Contrary to the TVK govt’s claim and promise of transparency in tenders, the 5.54 crore tender for chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s 10th floor Sea-View office at Namakkal Kavignar Maligai is shrouded in secrecy and has deviated from mandatory tender rules.
First, none of the… pic.twitter.com/SerDGUa49Q
— Omjasvin M D (@omjasvinMD) August 18, 2026
Tenders Floated After Work Had Already Begun?
The first issue concerns the timing of the tender process.
Dismantling and other works at the proposed CMO premises had reportedly already begun before the tenders were floated. This has raised questions over how work could have commenced when the tender process itself had not yet been completed.
If a contractor had already been identified or work had been assigned before the tender process, it would raise serious questions about the purpose of subsequently inviting competitive bids.
The PWD, however, reportedly denied that any pre-tender work had been undertaken at the site.
Three Tenders Kept Offline
The three CMO-related tenders were also not initially uploaded on the government’s e-tender portal.
Instead, they were first published in newspapers. The online versions appeared only four days later, after The Times of India sought responses from officials regarding the absence of the e-tenders.
The timing is particularly striking because the PWD had floated 135 tenders online between August 12 and August 17. Yet the three tenders concerning the Chief Minister’s Office remained offline during this period.
The delay therefore appears difficult to explain as a routine administrative lapse, particularly when the same department was actively using the online tender system for other works.
Print And Online Versions Differ
There was another discrepancy in the tender documents.
The newspaper advertisements reportedly specified the tender value as ₹5.54 crore. However, the corresponding online tender documents did not mention the amount and instead carried “NA” against the relevant field.
Such differences between the print and electronic versions raise questions about the transparency and consistency of the tender process.
The ideal tender process requires tenders to be publicly advertised, with details including the scope of work, estimated cost and tender documents made available to prospective contractors within the prescribed period.
Why The Delay Matters
The tender documents reportedly specify a 15-day window for contractors to submit their bids.
That period is intended to provide contractors with sufficient time to examine the specifications, assess the work involved and submit competitive bids.
The tender documents also reportedly contain detailed specifications covering items such as false ceilings, plywood partitions, wall tiles, sanitary fittings, glass and other works required for the proposed office.
If physical work is already underway before contractors have been given an opportunity to compete for the project, however, the tender process risks becoming a formality rather than a genuine exercise in competitive procurement.
PWD Secretary Selvraj reportedly denied that any work had begun before tendering and said the department had followed the prescribed process.
Transparency Under The TVK Government
The controversy is particularly significant because the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government has repeatedly projected transparency and clean governance as central to its administration.
Public procurement is one of the areas where transparency can be objectively demonstrated: tenders should be publicly available, potential bidders should have adequate time to participate, and the tender documents should contain consistent information.
In this case, however, the ₹5.54 crore CMO office project has raised questions on all three counts—the timing of the tender, its delayed online publication and the discrepancy between the newspaper and online versions.
The government may therefore have to explain why the three tenders were not immediately uploaded online when the PWD was simultaneously floating scores of other tenders through the electronic system.
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