National Testing Agency floats Rs 7.5 crore security tender after NEET paper leak

Following the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has floated a Rs 7.5 crore tender for round-the-clock security services at its headquarters at Minto Road, regional offices at Okhla, storage facilities and other notified locations.

According to the tender document, the move aims to safeguard NTA’s personnel, visitors, assets, premises, records, confidential examination material, server rooms, strong rooms and other critical infrastructure.

The July 25 Request for Proposal (RFP) said the estimated contract value is “Rs 7.5 crore plus GST (tentative) for a 2-year contract without variation”. 

Bids can be submitted until 3 pm on August 17, and the printing-services tender closes on August 20, it said. The contract will initially remain valid for two years and can be extended for two additional one-year periods, subject to satisfactory performance, mutual consent and approval of the competent authority.

The tender requires a Rs 15 lakh deposit and will be evaluated under the Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) model, where the technical score carries 70 per cent weightage and the financial score carries 30 per cent.

“The bidder must have provided professional security services for at least five years as of the last date for bid submission,” the document said. The RFP requires bidders to have experience providing security services to Central Government Ministries, universities, examination agencies, IT parks, airports, hospitals, metro rail systems or other establishments requiring round-the-clock security. Bidders must also have an average annual turnover of not less than Rs 10 crore during the last three financial years. The document stated that “the selected agency shall deploy professionally trained, physically fit, police-verified and experienced security personnel.” The scope of work includes access control, premises protection, patrolling, security of confidential examination material, CCTV monitoring, visitor management, fire and emergency response and incident reporting. 

The tender said security personnel must ensure the protection of “confidential examination records”, “examination logistics”, “digital storage media”, and strong rooms containing examination-related material and sensitive files entrusted by the NTA.