One minister, one department, one contract, one winner - but many lobbies. This, in essence, sums up the reason why Project Arrow, which sought to change the face of India's department of posts (DoP) - a department that normally does not figure in the vision of most policymakers and decision-takers - appears to have gone into a limbo. It is also a project that the Union government hoped would take inclusive growth in the country to another level.
At the heart of this modernisation project was the Core System Integrator (CSI) contract for which three companies - HP, TCS and HCL Technologies - had been shortlisted. In fact, it was in January this year that the technical evaluation for the project was completed and HP emerged the lowest bidder. But doing business in India is never easy, as has emerged in the recent round of corruption scandals that are rocking the government.