NEW DELHI : An order for half a million Chinese rapid antibody test kits for coronavirus has been cancelled because they were found to be “under-performing", the government said on Monday, as it sought to reject criticism that the kits were overpriced.
The kits from Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech were purchased through a tendering process as its own direct procurement attempts had failed, but there was no financial loss from the transaction, it said.
In a statement, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that itsevaluation committee got four bids with quotes of ₹1,204, ₹1,200, ₹844 and ₹600.
Accordingly, the bid offer of ₹600 was considered as L-1 (lowest bidder). ICMR said it tried to buy the kits directly from Wondfo, but that the