THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Forest Department will introduce e-auction of timber sales in all its six timber sales divisions in the state from November 1. The e-auction, which can lead to a considerable increase in the number of timber bidders, is expected to break the stranglehold of the merchant cartels on timber sales.
The Department also estimates that the e-auction will increase the revenue from timber sales by at least 25 percent. As of now, the revenue from timber sales is roughly around Rs 200 crore. The six sales divisions are: Thiruvananthapuram, Punalur, Kottayam, Perumbavoor, Palakkad and Kozhikode.
“Transparency is the main objective of the initiative,” said additional principal chief conservator of forests (protection) Surendra Kumar. “The merchant class has the habit of forming cartels that artificially keep the bid prices low. Now with the auction going online, these timber merchants will be denied the chance to form rings or cartels. Timber prices will, as a consequence, reflect the demand,” Mr Kumar said.
Further, e-auction will allow private individuals to participate in the bid. “They can bid without any fear. Usually, the merchant class manipulates the bidding process to make it difficult for individual bidders,” the APCCF said. Under the e-auction system, only the bid prices will be known online not the bidder.
The delivery of the timber will also be accelerated under the system. In the manual system, it will take at least a month for the goods to be delivered to the winning bidder. The APCCF said that the e-auction will enable goods to be delivered in two days flat. Perhaps, the biggest advantage of e-auction is the weeding out of black money from timber sales.
