BMWs worth ₹70 lakh each! Lokpal of India's move to buy seven luxury cars sparks sharp criticism

The Lokpal of India is looking to buy seven high-end BMW luxury cars worth ₹60 lakh each, and has floated an official tender for the same, documents accessed by Mint showed.

"The Lokpal of India invites open tenders from reputed Agencies for supply of seven BMW 3 Series 330 Li Cars to the Lokpal of India," the tender notice dated 16 October 2025 reads.

Part of BMW's 3 Series Long Wheel-Base (LWB) line-up, each 330 Li has a listed price of ₹60,45,000 as per the German automaker's website, with on-road prices being around ₹70 lakh.

"Experience supreme comfort and luxury with The 3 Series LWB. It is the longest and the most spacious car in the segment and is designed for outstanding comfort in an extremely luxurious cabin. Impressive in every way, The 3 Series LWB is the most powerful car in its segment with the most advanced technology," the description reads.

The corruption ombudsman has also specified the colour of the seven BMW cars to be bought—white.

Details of the Lokpal's tender

The tender, which has already been floated, will see bids open on 7 November 2025, 4 PM onwards, and bidding agencies must submit an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) of ₹10 lakh to participate in the tender.

The tender also notes that delivery of the seven BMW 3 Series 330 Li cars will have to be completed preferably within two weeks and not later than 30 days from the date of the supply order.

An interesting clause is a strict requirement for the winning vendor to provide comprehensive training to the Lokpal's designated drivers and staff for a minimum of seven days.

Further, as part of training, each designated driver must use the vehicles and drive a minimum of 50 kilometres (up to 100 kilometres) under the supervision of the trainers.

The tender further states that the entire cost of the training, including trainers' fees, travel, accommodation, fuel etc. must be borne exclusively by the vendor.

The Lokpal of India will bear "no additional expenditure" for the training, the document notes.

Lokpal ‘ground to dust’

The tender notification seeking to buy luxury cars sparked sharp reactions online, with activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan slamming the anti-corruption body.

“The institution of Lokpal has been ground to dust by the Modi govt, by keeping it vacant for many years & then appointing servile members who are not bothered by graft & are happy with their luxuries. They are now buying 70L BMW cars for themselves! (sic),” Bhushan posted on X.

Leaders of the Congress also hit out at the Lokpal.

“The Lokpal which was supposed to fight corruption in India 👇🏻 Now buying 7 luxury BMW cars worth ₹5 crore for its own use. Has anyone ever heard of them solving even a single corruption case in the 11 years of the @narendramodi government? (sic),” posted Telangana Congress leader Sama Ram Mohan Reddy on X.

A seven-member body comprising the chairman and six others, the Lokpal of India was formed in 2019 after decades of efforts to setup a constitutional ombudsman.