DPIIT proposes hiring agency to vet govt tenders for norms compliance

Business Standard

12-05-2025

A penalty up to 10 per cent of the contract value can be imposed in case the contractor/ supplier does not meet the stipulated local content requirement
Press Trust of India New Delhi
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has proposed to appoint a consulting agency to scrutinise tenders of central government procuring entities for compliance with public procurement norms.
The department has floated a request-for-proposal (RFP) in this regard.
The Government of India has issued Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017. It has been issued to promote locally manufactured items in public procurement thereby increasing domestic production of goods and services.
The policy aims at incentivizing procurement linked through local content requirements, thereby encouraging domestic manufacturer's participation in public procurement activities over entities merely importing to trade or assemble items.
A penalty up to 10 per cent of the contract value can be imposed in case the contractor/ supplier does not meet the stipulated local content requirement.
As per the order restrictive and discriminatory clauses against domestic suppliers cannot be included in procurement by Central Government agencies.
"DPIIT intends to onboard an agency, for a period of one year...for scrutinising tenders of Central Government procuring agencies for its compliance with ...(this) order," it said.
Earlier, the department had identified 259 tenders as non-compliant with the public procurement norms in 2024.
The decision to appoint an agency comes in the backdrop of DPIIT's observation that procuring entities are not stipulating the applicability of the Order in tenders, which is the most significant factor contributing to non-compliance.
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