Govt narrows down bidding regulations for border countries to strengthen national security; Know More-

New Delhi, July 24: In a major move, the government amended the General Financial Rules 2017, imposing restrictions on bidders from countries that share a land border with India to strengthen the defence and national security.

 

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The Finance Ministry said in an order issued late on Thursday that bidders from the countries will be only 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.

 

 

 

It stated that the Competent Authority for registration will be the Registration Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Meanwhile, political and security clearance from the Ministries of External and Home Affairs will be mandatory as well.

 

"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," it further added.

 

However, the Ministry has provided relaxations- for procurement of medical supplies for containment of COVID-19 global pandemic till 31st December 2020 and countries to which government extends lines of credit or provides development assistance have been exempted from the requirement of prior registration, confining the restrictions to China and Pakistan. India shares its border with China, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. According to the statement provided by the Ministry, the government has extended lines of credit to Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, exempting them from the new order.

The Ministry has strictly ordered, "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 de novo. The Order will also apply to other forms of public procurement. It does not apply to procurement by the private sector."