Indian govt restricts public procurement from certain bordering countries
New Delhi/IBNS: The Ministry of Finance on Thursday amended the General Financial Rules 2017, restricting bidders from countries sharing a land border with India, citing concerns related to defence of India, or matters directly or indirectly related to the national security of the country, said an official statement.
A detailed order related to public procurement has been issued by the The Department of Expenditure to strengthen the national security and defence of India.
"As per the Order any bidder from such countries sharing a land border with India will be eligible to bid in any procurement whether of goods, services (including consultancy services and non-consultancy services) or works (including turnkey projects) only if the bidder is registered with the Competent Authority," the government release stated.
The Registration Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has been designated as the Competent Authority for registration.
Security and political clearances from the Ministries of Home Affairs and External will be mandatory, the release stated.
Public sector banks and financial institutions, Autonomous Bodies, Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and Public Private Partnership projects receiving financial support from the government or its undertakings have been included in the order.
The Centre has asked the state governments to constitute the competent authority for procurement, but the political and security clearances will be mandatory. The chief secretaries of the states have been asked to implement the order at the state level, the statement further noted.
"Relaxation has been provided in certain limited cases, including for procurement of medical supplies for containment of coronavirus global pandemic till 31st December 2020," it said.
In a separate order, the countries receiving line of credit or development assistance have been exempted in the order.
The new provisions will apply to all new tenders, including the tenders already invited whose first stage of evaluation of qualifications is pending.
Tenders in the next phase will either be cancelled and the process started de novo.
The order also takes into ambit public procurement, but does not apply to private sector procurement.
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