Govt amends public procurement norm, adds reciprocity clause

Foreign entities of countries which do not allow Indian companies to participate in their government buying will not be permitted to take part in domestic procurement, an official statement said on Friday. The government has added a reciprocity clause in its Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017.

"As per the Order, entities of countries which do not allow Indian companies to participate in their government procurement for any item, shall not be allowed to participate in government procurement in India for all items related to that nodal ministry/ department, except for the list of items published by the ministry/ department permitting their participation," it said. The order also stated that this stipulation shall be part of all tenders invited by the central government procuring entities.

All procurement on government e-marketplace shall also necessarily have this provision for items identified by nodal ministry/department. The commerce and industry ministry statement added that specifying foreign certifications, unreasonable technical specifications, brands/models in a bid document is restrictive and discriminatory practice against local suppliers. "Foreign certification, if required, shall be stipulated only with the approval of secretary of the department concerned," it said.