Unraveling Collusion in State Tender Bidding

In 2022, the Uttarakhand tourism board invited bids to promote adventure tourism on a 142 acre estate near Mussoorie, with huts, a café, museums, and even a helipad. The winning company, Rajas Aerosports, got the project for an annual fee of just Rs 1 crore. But an Indian Express investigation found that all three firms that bid had the same shareholder — Acharya Balkrishna, co-founder of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd and close aide of Baba Ramdev. 

Today on the show, we speak to The Indian Express’ Aiswarya Raj and Dheeraj Mishra, who undertook this investigation to find out how the bidding played out, and what it reveals about the project.

Hosted and produced by Shashank Bhargava
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

You can read the investigation here.