Jamshedpur, Oct. 10: The polymer pipe manufacturers here have demanded a review of the new contract system of the public health and engineering department (PHED) dealing with the installation of the hand pumps.

They have alleged that the state has lost Rs 3.5 crore since the new system came into force. On the other hand, it has left the state manufacturers without a market. The industrialists complained the system was against the industrial policy of the state.

Under the provision of the new system, the contractor has to purchase the pipes to be used in the installation of a hand pump. However, their cost is passed on to the government.

A recent reply of the PHED to an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act revealed that the government was paying Rs 350 per metre plus an additional 3 per cent to the contractors for installing the 125mm blue casing pipe for hand pumps.

For the same pipes, the government was paying Rs 290 per metre before the new turnkey contract system was introduced, the industrialists said.

“We have failed to figure out the reasons why the contractors are not buying pipes from us,” they added.

“We cannot sell our products in other states as the governments there have policies in favour of local industries,” said Sarwan Kumar Debuka the owner of Rani Sati Pipes who had filed the RTI application.

There are around a dozen polyvinyl pipe manufactures in the state who are now on verge of closure due to the new contract system, the industrialist said.