Tamil Nadu’s free bicycle tender for 5.32 lakh Class XI students has run about ₹115 crore above the state’s allocated budget, putting the next step in the scheme in the hands of the backward classes department and the government’s negotiations with the lowest bidder, Hero Cycles.
Hero Cycles emerged as the L1 bidder to supply bicycles, helmets and water bottles to students in government and aided schools across the state. Its bid is valued at more than ₹392 crore, compared with the ₹277 crore allocation made by the TVK government for the scheme this year.
The company quoted ₹14,711, including taxes, for two bicycles — one for a boy and one for a girl. The bid works out to ₹7,476 for each of the 2.95 lakh girls’ bicycles and ₹7,235 for each of the 2.37 lakh boys’ bicycles. Avon Cycles Limited was the L2 bidder, quoting ₹15,059 for the pair.
An official of the backward classes department, which floated the tender, said the government would negotiate further with Hero Cycles. The official indicated that revision of the allocation and issuance of a work order were more likely than cancellation of the tender. Backward classes welfare minister V Sampath Kumar was unavailable for comment on whether the budget provision would be revised.
The current allocation provides about ₹5,302 per cycle, including accessories, while the successful bid is substantially higher. The difference also reflects a change in the scope of the procurement compared with the previous year. Documents from 2025 show that the DMK government procured bicycles at ₹10,866 per pair, or ₹5,488 for a boys’ cycle and ₹5,378 for a girls’ cycle. That earlier tender did not include helmets and water bottles.
The procurement is not only an education-support measure but also a state-wide mobility intervention for students who travel to government and aided schools. The tender requires Hero Cycles to deliver the bicycles, provide a warranty and conduct free service camps for three days after six months have passed from distribution. The girls’ bicycles will be finished in lilac mist and the boys’ bicycles in army green. Both models will carry the state government logo engraved on the front tube.
The tender document was modified last month after the government extended the bid deadline. One change was the removal of the requirement for Bureau of Indian Standards certification for the bicycle frame and fork. The supplied report does not state the reasons for that modification or whether it contributed to the final bid amount.
The immediate administrative decision is whether to revise the scheme’s allocation and issue the work order, or take another procurement route. Until that decision is made, the tender award does not by itself establish when the bicycles, helmets and water bottles will be delivered to students.
