New Delhi (NVI): Amid the border row with China, the Centre has announced restrictions on bidders from countries that share a land border with India on grounds of defence and national security, aimed at keeping Chinese vendors out from public procurements.
In a statement, the Ministry of Finance said that the Department of Expenditure has, under the said rules, issued a detailed order on public procurement to strengthen the defence of India and national security.
“The Government of India today amended the General Financial Rules 2017 to enable imposition of restrictions on bidders from countries which share a land border with India on grounds of defence of India, or matters directly or indirectly related there to including national security,” said the official statement.
According to the order, any bidder from countries sharing a land border with India will be eligible to bid in any procurement whether of goods, services or works only if the bidder is registered with the Competent Authority.
The Competent Authority, in this case, is the Registration Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). “Political and security clearance from the Ministries of External and Home Affairs respectively will be mandatory,” the statement said.
The order takes into its ambit 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.
The statement further noted that, the Centre has written to the chief secretaries of the state governments for the implementation of this order at state level. For state government procurement, the competent authority will be constituted by the states but political and security clearance will remain necessary.
“Relaxation has been provided in certain limited cases, including for procurement of medical supplies for containment of COVID-19 global pandemic till 31st December 2020,” the statement said.
By a separate order, countries to which Government of India extends lines of credit or provides development assistance have been exempted from the requirement of prior registration.
The statement also stated, the new provisions will apply to all new tenders. In respect of tenders already invited, if the first stage of evaluation of qualifications has not been completed, bidders who are not registered under the new order will be treated as not qualified.
If this stage has been crossed, ordinarily the tenders will be cancelled and the process started over again. The order will also apply to other forms of public procurement. It does not apply to procurement by the private sector, it added.
-RJV/ARK
