About Rs 30,000 cr tenders cancelled to promote Make in India products: DPIIT Secy

Government tenders worth about Rs 30,000 crore were canceled because of discriminatory practices being followed, a top official said on Monday. Restrictive and discriminative tender practices prevent the participation of domestic companies in government procurement, hurting 'Make in India' initiatives.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) from time to time has intervened to change conditions in those tenders in order to promote 'Made in India' goods. "Many of the restrictive and discriminative tender practices have been identified. Almost Rs 30,000 crore (worth) of tenders have been canceled because of discriminatory practices," DPIIT Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra said here at a function.

He said the vigilance cases have been ordered by the Central Vigilance Commission wherever the department felt that a tender has been floated deliberately with a mala fide intention to deny a level-playing field to an Indian player. The department is taking every step for effective implementation of public procurement order, 2017, to promote 'Made in India' products.

The government issued the order on June 15, 2017, to promote the manufacturing and production of goods and services in India and enhance income and employment in the country. Under the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, it was envisaged that all central government departments, their attached or subordinate offices and autonomous bodies controlled by the Government of India should ensure that purchase preference is given to domestic suppliers in government procurement.

The secretary said government departments and public sector companies should give preference to local players. "The government has taken many initiatives like Make in India, ease of doing business, investor facilitation, FDI reforms, new infrastructure creation, and various outreach programs to increase share of manufacturing in GDP and create 100 million jobs by 2024," Mohapatra said.