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Jewellery retailers Joyalukkas and Kalyan Jewellers have been awarded work orders to supply one-gram gold rings under the Tamil Nadu government’s ‘Thaimaman Thanga Mothiram Thittam’, with Joyalukkas getting 70% of the order and Kalyan Jewellers the remaining 30%.
The decision comes after Joyalukkas emerged as the lowest bidder in the tender floated by the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) for procuring 4,41,667 one-gram gold rings. The overall cost of the scheme has been estimated at Rs 755.83 crore.
The tender was floated on July 14 through the TN Tenders Portal, with 11 companies participating in the bidding process.
Joyalukkas quoted just Rs 0.01 per ring towards all additional charges, excluding the prevailing price of one gram of gold. The quote covered making charges, insurance, transportation and BIS hallmarking.
Under the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Act and Rules, the lowest price quoted by Joyalukkas was shared with the other 10 participating companies, asking them if they were willing to match the bid. Kalyan Jewellers was the only company to agree to match the price, according to the Health and Family Welfare Department.
The government subsequently issued work orders to the two companies in a 70:30 ratio, with Joyalukkas receiving the larger share as the lowest bidder.
For the first four months of the scheme, from June to September, 1,28,499 rings are required to be distributed, the department said.
The scheme, which is scheduled to be launched on September 15, the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister CN Annadurai, provides a one-gram gold ring to every baby born in a government hospital from June 22, 2026 — the birthday of incumbent Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.
The scheme was announced by the Tamil Nadu government as a flagship programme and was also an election promise of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government.
The scheme is aimed at encouraging more women to opt for deliveries in government hospitals. The rings supplied under the scheme are required to carry the state emblem and a portrait of the Chief Minister.
The tender conditions also provide a mandatory buyback if a batch of rings fails quality testing. In such a case, TNMSC can trigger the buyback at the higher of the original price or the prevailing benchmark rate.
Joyalukkas, in a statement, described its bid as a deliberate low-margin commitment to the welfare programme rather than an attempt to make a commercial return.
Its chairman and managing director Joy Alukkas said the contract was an opportunity to support a scheme that reaches “thousands of families” across Tamil Nadu.
Reacting to the bid, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) IT wing, in a post on X, questioned the Joyalukkas bid and alleged that Chief Minister Vijay had been a brand ambassador for Joyalukkas’ sister company, Jos Alukkas.
Former MLA Ezhilan Naganathan of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) also criticised the procurement, saying the TNMSC, which is known for procuring quality medicines, had lost its pride with the procurement of gold.