SDE to AGM LICE Procurement Process in BSNL

PROCUREMENT PROCESS IN BSNL

1.1. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the session, the trainees will be able to learn
1.1.1. Tender types.
1.1.2. Tendering process.
1.1.3. Objectives of tender evaluation.
1.1.4. Bid opening committee.
1.1.5. Committee for evaluation of tender.
1.1.6. CVC guidelines.
1.2. INTRODUCTION:
Every organization needs various resources such as men, machines, material etc. for
running its production facilities to produce sellable products/services. Many of these
resources have to be procured from various suppliers. Most high value purchases are done
through a tender process.
1.3. TENDER TYPES
The procurement of materials in BSNL is done by inviting tenders and also through
PSUs against their reservation quota. The procurement is done at two levels viz.
• BSNL Corporate Office
• Telecom Circle H/Q
Apart from this, SSA and other field units under the telecom circle do the
procurement of goods/materials at local level. Procedures for such local purchases are given
at the last of the document. The procurement of materials in BSNL Corporate Office is done
for high value critical equipment such as large size switching equipment, transmission
equipment, PIJF U/G Cables, equipment & terminals, new technology equipment etc.:
• Batteries & power plants for North Eastern-I, North Eastern-II, North Eastern
Task Force, Assam and Andaman & Nicobar Circles.
• Line & Wire materials for the above five circles, Kolkata Telecom District and
West Bengal Circle. Until now, the Government Procurement Policy was being
followed i.e.
procurement was done either through GeM Portal in case items are on the
approved list of DG S&D or by calling for limited tenders if the cost of the material being
procured was within Rupees Two Lakh or through open tenders if the cost of material
being procured was exceeding Rupees Two Lakh. However, with the formation of BSNL
as a corporate entity in a Liberalized
Telecom Market where BSNL has to compete with a large number of competitors, it
is imperative for BSNL to serve in the competitive environment. For such a scenario, it is
essential not only to see the cost of materials being procured but also the time required for its

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procurement as well as successful implementation so as to make its presence felt among

various competitors. Thus, not only the cost and time factor is required to be taken into
consideration but at the same time the cost of opportunity lost due to long gestation period of
procurement and implementation is also to be taken into consideration i.e., the business
opportunity is also one of the most important factors for implementation of any such
venture/project. Hence, under such circumstances, it is essential to take an overall view for
cost of material, time for procurement, method of procurement as well as business
opportunity for any such venture/project. In such a situation, the Management Committee /
BSNL Board may decide the methodology to be adopted for such procurement taking into
consideration cost, time as well as business opportunities as situation warrants. In addition to
open tendering, the following methodologies can be adopted:
1.3.1. NEGOTIATIONS ROUTE:
In a situation where the requirement is of an immediate nature and it is necessary to
ensure continued supplies from the existing vendors, the BSNL management committee may
decide to place repeat orders up to 100% of the quantities contained in the running contract
and at a rate negotiated with the existing vendors considering the prevailing market
conditions. Depending upon the total value of additional procurement, the negotiation
committee can be constituted with the approval of competent authority of BSNL. This route
will however be resorted to in exceptional circumstances.
1.3.2. LIMITED TENDER ROUTE:
In some cases, the equipment is sophisticated and requires thorough technical
screening, testing and prototype approval by the Telecom Engineering Centre/Quality
Assurance to ensure that these equipments are of sufficient quality level to be used in public
Telecom Network. In such cases an open tender may result in the participation of unknown
bidders in open tenders, whose capability in making such equipment is yet to be established.
They may submit unrealistic bids which may cause major difficulties in the tender evaluation
process. In such cases, it would be necessary to screen out such bidders so that BSNL could
interact only with bidders who have intrinsic capability as well as a proven track record of
supplying such sophisticated equipment. Where such equipment are required, it would be
worthwhile restricting Bids by issue of limited tenders only to those parties who have proven
expertise in manufacture and supply of such equipment and who have prototype approval and
production clearance. In such tenders it is essential that the reasons for limiting the tenders to
proven suppliers needs to be brought out in the NIT itself so that such an action would stand
justified. The issue of such limited tender should have the concurrence of Financial Advisor
and personal approval by the head of the unit.
1.3.3. OPEN TENDER:
Bidding process that is open to all qualified bidders and where the sealed bids are
opened usually in public for scrutiny and are chosen on the basis of price and quality. It is
also called competitive tender or public tender. The technical & commercial terms and
conditions for the purchase are well decided & made known to bidders through tender
document. Purchaser may call for pre-bid conference & issue clarifications to the bidders.
1.3.4. EXPRESSION OF INTEREST ROUTE:
In situations where BSNL proposes to induct new technology/equipment/new service
and the specifications of the new technology/equipment/new service are not firmed

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up, BSNL may invite Expression of Interest (EOI) from the available vendors of that
technology/equipment/new service. Based on the offers received from the bidders who
choose to participate in the EOI, the bidders satisfying the terms of EOI will be short-listed.
Before short listing the participants for handing over the tender documents, BSNL may
freely interact with them; obtain clarifications and feedback on the delivery of similar
equipment/services elsewhere. The short-listed bidders will be given the tender document
containing detailed technical, commercial and financial conditions. After evaluation by a
designated committee, the contract shall be awarded with the approval of competent authority
to the successful bidder(s) as per the terms and conditions stipulated in the EOI and the
technical, commercial and financial bid.
1.4. THE TENDERING PROCESS:
The salient points of the procedures adopted in tendering are given below:
TENDER, THE BID DOCUMENT OR DOCUMENT: The Tender documents which
include conditions, specifications, quantities etc., would require the approval of the authority
not lower than that which is empower to accept the tender.
NOTICE INVITING TENDER (NIT): Following information are to be provided in
the NIT:
a) Date of issue of NIT
b) Tender No.
c) Date & Time of Receipt & Opening of Tender
d) Details & Quantities of Materials to be procured.
e) Specifications of materials (of TEC/if not other details)
f) Amount of Bid Security/Earnest Money (Whether in shape of B/G or
by DD is to be specified)

g) Dated and time of sale of Bid Documents.

h) Price of Bid Documents.
Precautionary conditions in NIT:
1. The competent authority approving the NIT can make necessary conditions
individual cases
2. The competent authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any other
tender, and reserves its right to reject or all of the tenders received without the
assignment of a reason.
3. The competent authority also reserves its right to allow to the Central
Government Public Sector Enterprises a purchase preference with reference
to the lowest valid price bid where the quoted price in within 10% of such
lowest price, other things being equal, as amended from time to time by the
Govt.
4. All tenders, in which any of the prescribed conditions are not fulfilled or are
incomplete in any respect, are liable to be rejected.

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As per latest guideline of BSNL Corporate office letter no.CA/MMT/3-1/2018 Dated

17.07.2018, advertisement in case of tenders above certain threshold value should be given
on central public procurement portal(CPPP), Government e-marketplace(GeM) portal as well
as on the website of ministry/ Departments/Organizations ,if available.
1.5. THE BID DOCUMENTS
1.5.1. DOCUMENTS REQUIRED
The goods required to be supplied; bidding procedures and contract terms and
conditions are prescribed in the Bid Documents. The Bid documents include:
(a) Notice Inviting Tender.
(b) Instructions to Bidders.
(c) General (Commercial) Conditions of Contract.
(d) Special conditions of Contract, if any
(e) Schedule of Requirements.
(f) Technical Specifications.
(g) Bid Form and Price Schedules.
(h) Bid Security Form.
(i) Performance Security Bond Form.
(j) Letter of authorization to attend bid opening.
1.5.2. CLARIFICATION OF BID DOCUMENTS
A prospective bidder, requiring any clarification on the Bid Documents shall notify
the Purchaser in writing or by FAX at the Purchaser’s mailing address indicated in the
invitation of Bid. The Purchaser shall respond in writing to any request for the clarification of
the Bid Documents, which it receives not later than 14 days prior to the date of opening of
the Tenders. Copies of the query (without identifying the source) and clarifications by the
Purchaser shall be sent to all the prospective bidders who have received the bid documents
(BSNL Corporate office letter no.CA/MMT/3-2/2018 Dated 30.08.2018 may be
referred for flow chart of procurement process)
Any clarification issued by BSNL in response to query raised by prospective bidders shall
form an integral part of bid documents and it may amount to an amendment of relevant
clauses of the bid documents.
1.5.3. AMENDMENT OF BID DOCUMENTS
At any time, prior to the date of submission of Bids, the Purchaser may, for any
reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a
prospective bidder, modify bid documents by amendments.

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The amendments shall be notified in writing or by FAX to all prospective bidders on

the address intimated at the time of purchase of the bid document from the purchaser and
these amendments will be binding on them.
In order to afford prospective bidders a reasonable time to take the amendment into
account in preparing their bids, the purchaser may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for
the submission of bids suitably.
1.5.4. DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING BIDDER’S ELIGIBILITY AND
QUALIFICATION
The bidder shall furnish, as part of the bid documents establishing the bidder’s
eligibility, the following documents or whichever is required as per terms and conditions of
Bid Documents.
I. Certificate of incorporation.
II. Article or Memorandum of Association or partnership deed
or proprietorship deed as the case may be.

III. Registration certificate from State Director of Industries or

from Secretariat for Industrial Approval (SIA) , Ministry of
Industries, Government of India.

IV. Approval from Reserve Bank of India /SIA in case of foreign collaboration.
V. Latest and valid NSIC Certificate duly certified by NSIC.
VI. Type Approval Certificate given by Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC).
1.5.5. BID SECURITY
I. The bidder shall furnish, as part of his bid, a bid security for an
amount of Rs (Rupees ) (Calculated
@2% of estimated tender value). The bidders (small scale units) who are
registered with National Small Scale Industries Corporation UNDER SINGLE
POINT REGISTRATION SCHEME are exempted from payment of bid
security up to the amount equal to their monetary limit. In case of bidders
having monetary limit as “NO LIMIT”, the exemption will be limited to
Rs.50,00,000/- (Rupees Fifty Lakhs) only as per existing policy of BSNL. A
proof regarding current registration with NSIC for the TENDERED ITEMS
will have to be attached along with the bid.
II. The bid security is required to protect the purchaser against the risk of
bidder’s conduct, which would warrant the forfeiture of bid security.
a. The bid security shall be in the form of a bank Guarantee/DD
issued by a scheduled bank in favor of the purchaser, valid for a period of 180
days from the date of tender opening.
III. A bid not secured in accordance with NIT shall be rejected by the
Purchaser being non-responsive at the bid opening stage and returned to the
bidder unopened.
IV. The bid security of the unsuccessful bidder will be discharged/returned as

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promptly as possible as but not later than 30 days after the expiry of the period
of the bid validity prescribed by the purchaser pursuant to tender document.
V. The successful bidder’s bid security will be discharged upon the bidder’s
acceptance of the advance purchase order satisfactorily and furnishing the
performance security.
VI. The bid security may be forfeited:
• If the bidder withdraws his bid during the period of bid validity specified
by the bidder inthe Bid form or
• In the case of successful bidder, if the bidder fails:
1. to sign the contract or
2. to furnish performance security.
• In both the above cases, the bidder will not be eligible to participate in the
tender for sameitem for one year from the date of issue of APO.

1.5.6 PERIOD OF VALIDITY OF BIDS

I. Bid shall remain valid for 150 days from the date of opening of bids as
prescribed by the purchaser. A bid valid for a shorter period shall be
rejected by the purchaser being non-responsive.
II. In exceptional circumstances, the purchaser may request the consent of the
bidder for an extension to the period of bid validity. The request and the
response thereto shall be made in writing. The bidder may refuse the request
without forfeiting his bid security. A bidder accepting the request and
granting extension will not be permitted to modify his bid.
III. The original and all copies of Bid shall be typed or printed and all the
pages numbered consecutively and shall be signed by the bidder or a person or
persons duly authorized to bind the bidder to the contract. The letter of
authorization shall be indicated by written power-of-attorney accompanying
the bid. All pages of the original bid, except for un-amended printed
literatures, shall be signed by the person or persons signing the bid. The
bids submitted shall be sealed properly.
IV. The bid shall contain no interlineations, erasures or overwriting except as
necessary to correct errors made by the bidder in which case such corrections
shall be signed by the personor persons signing the bid.
1.5.7 SEALING AND MARKING OF BIDS
The bid should be submitted in two covers. The first cover shall contain the
original and four copies of the bid duly marked ‘ORIGINAL’ & ‘COPY’. The second
cover shall contain documents establishing bidder’s eligibility as per Clause 2 along with Bid
Security. Both the covers should be sealed separately by the personal seal of the bidder.
a) The envelopes shall be addressed to the purchaser
b) (b) The envelope shall bear (the project name), the tender number and the
words ‘DO NOT OPEN BEFORE’ (due date & time).

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(c) The inner and outer envelopes shall indicate the name and address of the
bidders to enablethe bid to be return unopened in case it is declared ‘late’ or
rejected.
(d) Tender may be sent by registered post or delivered in person on above
mentioned address The responsibility for ensuring that the tenders are
delivered in time would vest with the bidder.
(e) Bids delivered in person on the day of tender opening shall be delivered up
to XX Hrs. of the tender opening. The purchaser shall not be responsible if the
bids are delivered elsewhere.
(f) Venue of Tender Opening: Tender will be opened in XYZ at YY.00 Hrs. on
the due date. If due to administrative reason, the venue of Bid opening is
changed, it will be displayed prominently on at reception office
If both the envelopes are not sealed and marked, the bid shall be rejected.
1.5.8 SUBMISSION OF BIDS
Bids must be received by the Purchaser at the address on due date up to specified
time
The bidder shall submit his bid offer against a set of bid documents purchased by him
.
for all or some of the systems/equipment as per requirement of the Bid Documents. He may
include alternate offer, if permissible as per the bid. However not more than one independent
and complete offer shall be permitted from the bidder.
1.5.9 LATE BIDS
Any bid received by the purchaser after the deadline for submission of bids prescribed
by the purchaser pursuant shall be rejected and returned unopened to the bidder.
1.5.10 MODIFICATION AND WITHDRAWAL OF BIDS
1 The bidder may modify or withdraw his bid after submission provided that
the written notice of the modification or withdrawal is received by the
purchaser prior to the deadline prescribed for submission of bids.
2 The bidder’s modification or withdrawal notice shall be prepared, sealed,
marked and dispatched as required in the case of bid submission in accordance
with the provision. A withdrawal notice may also be sent by FAX but
followed by a signed confirmation copy by post not later than the deadline
for submission of bids.
1.5.11 OPENING OF BIDS BY PURCHASER
1 The purchaser shall open bids in the presence of bidders or their authorized
representatives who chose to attend, at YY:00 hrs on due date. The bidder’s
representatives, who are present shall sign in an attendance register. Authority
letter to this effect shall be submitted by the bidders before they are allowed to
participate in bid opening
2 A maximum of two representatives of any bidder shall be authorized and
permitted to attend the bid opening.
3 The bidder’s names, bid prices, modifications, bid withdrawals and such
other details as the purchaser, at its discretion, may consider appropriate will
be announced at the time ofopening.

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4 The date fixed for opening of bids, if subsequently declared as holiday by

the BSNL, the revised date of schedule will be notified. However, in absence
of such notification, the bids will be opened on next working day, time and
venue remaining unaltered.

1.5.12 CLARIFICATION OF BIDS

To assist in the examination, evaluation and comparison of bids, the purchaser may, at
its discretion ask the bidder for the clarification of its bid. The request for the clarification and
the response shall be in writing. However, no post bid clarification at the initiative of the
bidder shall be entertained.
1.6 OBJECTIVES OF TENDER EVALUATION:
Following are the Key objectives of Tender Evaluation
a) Compliance to stipulated technical and commercial conditions
b) Evaluate the bids for selecting reasonable and competitive rates
c) Follow the evaluation in a very objective and transparent manner
d) Ensure compliance to CVC guidelines
e) Complete the evaluation process in defined time frame while ensuring checks
like:
1.7 GENERAL CHECK
Unconditional clause-by-clause compliance of: – General Conditions of the Contract
a) Special Conditions of the Contract
b) Clarifications/ amendments issued after NIT
c) AMC Conditions
d) Technical Specifications
1.8 TECHNICAL EVALUATION
a) All technical specifications are complied
b) All items have been quoted as per schedule of requirements
c) Bill of materials submitted with the bid meets our requirement and there is no
under-provisioning
1.9 FINANCIAL EVALUATION
a) Arithmetical errors to be rectified
b) Discrepancy between the unit price and total price, the unit price shall prevail
c) Discrepancy between words and figures, the amount in words shall prevail
d) Evaluation and comparison bids on the price of the goods offered inclusive of
Levies & Taxes i.e., Sales Tax & Excise Duty, packing, forwarding, freight
and insurance etc. but exclusive of octroi / entry tax
e) Duties/ taxes quoted are not more:
f) Concessional Sales Tax

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g) Service Tax
h) Custom Tariff Head in case of import content
i) Credit of CENVAT/ MODVAT availed
j) Ranking on the basis of corrected price schedule
1.10 BID OPENING TEAM
1.10.1 FORMATION OF BID OPENING TEAM
Since bid opening is an important responsibility, it is necessary that a bid opening
team be formed formally, commensurate with the estimated value of the tender. It is
recommended that composition of the bid opening team be as follows:
Table 22. Bid opening team

Estimated value Opening officer Members of the bid opening team

above Rs. 3 Crores Divisional Engg. or Asstt. Engineer or equivalent + One
Equivalent dealing Asstt.
Less than Rs. 3 Crore Asstt. Engineer Accounts Officer or equivalent
+ one dealing Asst

The officer nominated for the bid opening is normally different from the officer
who has to process the procurement case.
1.11 PREPARATIONS BY THE BID OPENING TEAM
The Bid Opening Team should equip itself adequately in advance, to enable it to carry
out its function efficiently during bid opening. These advance preparations would comprise of
the following:
a) Preparing Attendance Register for recording attendance of Bidders.
b) Preparing list of bidders who have purchased the bid documents.
c) Providing adequate number of mazdoors for shifting the documents
from the point of acceptance to the bid opening venue.
d) Ensuring security at the bid opening venue.
e) Making adequate arrangements for issue of passes to enable
smooth entry of the bidders to the bid opening venue.
f) Ensuring provision of public address system to enable the bidders to
hear information being read out.
g) Making suitable sealing arrangements
h) Making suitable arrangement for receipt, recording and stocking of the
documents.
i) Preparing formats in advance for recording information to be read
out at the time of opening of Bids and preparing its minutes.

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j) Preparing direction pointers, notice etc. for display at prominent

location to guide bidders to Bid Opening venue.
1.12 INFORMATION TO BE READ OUT IN BID OPENING
The following information should be read out in the bid opening.
● Name of the Bidder
● Name of the item
● Quantities/prices quoted in the bid
● Discount, if offered
● Taxes and levies
The Bid Opening Official should politely and firmly turn down queries of any other
nature from any bidder. No argument should be entertained on this account by the Bid
Opening Officer. Before outright rejection of the Bid by Bid-opening team for non-
compliance of any of the provisions (i) if covers are not properly sealed by bidder. (ii) Bid
security is not submitted in required manner/lesser validity period, the bidder company is
given opportunity to explain their position. However, if the person representing the company
is not satisfied with the decision of the Bid opening team, he/they can submit the
representation to Bid-opening team immediately but in no case after closing of the tender
process with full justification quoting specifically the violation of the tender conditions if any.
1.13 MINUTES OF THE BID OPENING
In all cases, it should be ensured that the bid opening is completed on the same
calendar day. The bid opening official would be responsible for preparation of the minutes on
the same day of the bid opening or maximum the next day to the bid opening, in case the bid
opening dragson well beyond the closing hours of the office. In case the minutes are issued
the next day, reason should be recorded by the Bid Opening Officer for examination and
acceptance by his superior officer. The bid opening minutes should comprise of the
following:
a) List of participants who attended the bid opening.
b) Report on the bid opening duly prepared by the bid opening official
and signed by him along with other members of the bid opening team
certifying that only those bidders who were eligible to participate,
were allowed to participate.
c) Information regarding item read out.
d) Submission of Bid documents, bidder-wise were as per Bid conditions to be
indicated.
e) Statement that all steps taken to preserve the sanctity of the Bids.
f) Certificate regarding proper storage of Bids, after the Bid opening, in secured
area.

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1.14 CONSTITUTION OF COMMITTEE FOR EVALUATION OF

TENDER (CET)
Technical Planning/Service/technology cell Convener

Commercial MM Cell Member

Finance Finance Cell Member

In addition depending upon the nature of the tender, officer(s) from
TEC/Operation Branch could also form part of the Committee for Evaluation of Tender.
1.15 LEVEL OF COMMITTEE FOR EVALUATION OF TENDER
The level of the Committee for Evaluation of Tender depends upon the value of theTender.
The levels for different value are given below:
Table 23. Level of CET Members

Value of the Tender Technical Commercial Finance

Up to Rs 10 Crores DGM AGM AGM

> Rs 10 Cr & up to Rs DGM DGM DGM

50 Cr

> Rs 50 Cr & up to Rs CGM/PGM/GM DGM DGM

100 Cr

> Rs 100 Cr CGM/PGM/GM GM GM

1.16 CVC GUIDELINES

The Guidelines provide broad procedures to enable the evaluation process. Correct
evaluation decision will continue to depend upon the experience and good judgment of those
who are responsible for evaluation.
1.16.1 The following document should be handed over to the CET members by
MM/tender processing Cell:
a) All bids accepted at the time of bid opening.
b) Bid document along with technical specification(s).
c) Guidelines for CET.
d) Minutes of the bid opening, if any.
The above document should be received by CET members personally.
1.16.2 Wherever there is any variation between the Technical Compliance
Statement and the Drawings / Literature attached in support of or
merely with Technical Compliance Statement the bidders should be
asked to clarify/confirm specifically the technical compliance. In cases
where offered product is under- provided the CET should load the
quoted price appropriately so as to bring it to the desired level of
technical compliance.
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1.16.3 Determination of the bid’s responsiveness is to be based on the
contents of the bid itself without recourse to extrinsic evidence.
Queries to or from bidders should generally be avoided.
1.16.4 Any document which has an impact on price of the bidders and
which is submitted by the bidder after opening of the tenders should
not be considered and should be ignored.
1.16.5 Only responsive bids should be evaluated in detail. A responsive bid is
a bid which satisfies following conditions of the bid documents:
a) It meets all the major technical clauses.
b) It meets commercial clauses.
c) The offer is accompanied by a bid security deposit on the prescribed
Performa as indicated in the bid document and valid for 30 days
beyond the validity of the bid. The validity of the bid as per current
tender documents is 210 days from the date of bid opening.
1.16.6 The CET should hold a preliminary meeting within one week of
handing over of the tender Documents.
In order to help the Committee for Evaluation of Tender to formulate
its recommendations within a reasonable time frame the following
allocation of responsibilities for different actions are indicated herein.
The technical evaluation and preparation of comparative statement of
value of bids is to be carried out by the technical branch
representative(s) on the CET. The technical comparative assessment
of the material list is required to be done along with the corresponding
prices to be taken for evaluation. Vetting of such comparative list will
be done by the Finance representative on CET.
Commercial Evaluation is to be carried out by the MM Cell
representative in CET and vetted by the Finance representative.
Vetting of the comparative statements of bids and commercial
evaluation statement is to be done by the Finance representative on the
CET.
1.16.7 Once finally vetted statements become available (within per-
determined time frame), CET may finalize its recommendations within further
TEN days.
1.16.8 In case the committee has listed out major technical and commercial
conditions as evaluation criteria, the same should be clearly indicated in the
report.
1.16.9 The CET should clearly spell out its recommendations in its report
about technically acceptable bids, listed in an order starting from the lowest
technically acceptable bid(L-1) upwards or as per vendor rating starting
from V-1. The report should contain complete technical, commercial and
financial appraisal, the logic leading to the recommendations themselves and
reason for rejecting bids lower than the lowest technically acceptable bids.

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1.16.10 After consideration of all the above aspects the CET shall
determine the ordering price of the equipment and take into consideration the
reasonableness of this price.
1.16.11 The tender shall be evaluated for the quantities indicated in the
schedule of requirements. In normal purchase procedure, the orders will go in
favour of the lowest acceptable bidder for the full quantity. Apportioning the
quantities may arise due to certain limitations or considerations. As most of
the items procured by the BSNL are specialized products it becomes necessary
to sustain multiple vendors/suppliers through distribution of quantities.
1.16.12 Distribution of the tendered quantities amongst the various supplier: -
The total quantity of the order should be distributed amongst different
bidders who meet the technical and commercial specifications when such
distribution is in the long-term interest of the company. It is desirable that the
BSNL sustains multiple vendors through distribution of order to promote
competition as in most of the cases the Department is the sole user of such
equipment/materials.
It may not be practicable to distribute the orders to all the bidders who
meet the technical specifications and commercial conditions, as in some case
the quantity ordered on each supplier will be too small to be viable, both for
supply and use by the Department. The distribution of orders therefore should
normally be restricted to the bidders who are within 50 to 60% of the lowest
bid. It is, however, to be conceded that where the quantity to be ordered is
very large or very small the number of bidders to be accommodated may have
to be worked out differently.
The quantity to be allocated to L-1 and number of suppliers on whom
orders shall be placed would be specified in the tender document. The CET
thus should act as per these guidelines for distribution of the quantities
amongst the various eligible suppliers. In case no mention is made in the
documents then, it should be in the inverse ratio of their price quotation. This
will ensure that there is incentive for the bidders to quote their lowest price
from tender to tender. While deciding the quantities technical feasibility of
distribution and the capability of each of the suppliers has to be kept in view.
All the bidders should be offered uniform price for supply.
1.16.13 The recommendations of the Committee for Evaluation of Tender are
essentially internal document. Final decisions are taken by the competent
authority on the basis of CET recommendation. The confidentiality of the CET
document from outsider is, therefore, to be maintained. No information to
substance, examination, clarification or evaluation of bids and
recommendations should be communicated to persons other than those
officially concerned.
1.16.14 All the pages and enclosures of the CET report should be numbered
consecutively and signed by all CET members.
1.16.15 The CET recommendations in duplicate should be received in MM
Cell within 4 to 6 weeks of handing over the documents to the CET members.
The responsibility for ensuring these vests with Chairman / Convener of the
CET.

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1.16.16 If CET needs additional time to complete the work, permission of

extension may be obtained from competent authority by the Chairman of CET
specifically indicating the reason for the same. Permission of extension, if
granted, may be intimated to MM cell/processing section for the purpose of
record and taking further suitable action.
1.16.17 The meetings of Committee for Evaluation of Tender should be fixed
with prior consultation with its members. They should be contacted on
telephone as well. If any of the members appointed to the committee for
tender evaluation fails to attend the meetings for more than one occasion
consecutively the chairman of CET should bring it to the notice of concerned
Member of the Commission.
The Chairman/Convener of the Committee for Evaluation of Tender
should formally submit the report of the committee to the MM Branch.
1.16.18 Evaluation of Single responsive bid: Such cases are not to be treated
assingle tender. CET is allowed to evaluate such responsive bid and competent
authority can decide in consultation with IFA by satisfying that:
a) Wide publicity was given for the subject tender.
b) Tender specifications are generic in nature.
c) Qualified bidder satisfies all tender specifications, terms & conditions.
d) Rates are reasonable.
e) All the policies/guidelines regarding procurement of Telecom
equipment and stores in BSNL are observed.
CET should confirm that Notice Inviting Tenders was published in appropriate
newspapers, put on BSNL websites and also on main website of NIC. (Also downloadable
Tender document, if it does not require Non-disclosure agreement)
1.17 NEGOTIATION
As post tender negotiations could often be a source of corruption, it is directed that
there should be no post-tender negotiations with L-1, except in certain exceptional situations.
Such exceptional situations would include procurement of proprietary items, items with
limited sources of supply and items where there is suspicion of a cartel formation. The
justification and details of such negotiations should be duly recorded and documented
without any loss of time.
In cases where a decision is taken to go for re-tendering due to the unreasonableness
of the quoted rates, but the requirements are urgent and a re- tender for the entire requirement
would delay the availability of the item, thus jeopardizing the essential operations,
maintenance and safety, negotiations would be permitted with L-1 bidder(s) for the supply of
a bare minimum quantity. The balance quantity should, however, be procured expeditiously
through a re-tender, following the normal tendering process.
Negotiations should not be allowed to be misused as a tool for bargaining with L-1
with dubious intentions or lead to delays in decision-making. Convincing reasons must be
recorded by the authority recommending negotiations. Competent authority should exercise
due diligence while accepting a tender or ordering negotiations or calling for a re-tender and
a definite time frame should

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Be indicated so that the time taken for according requisite approvals for the entire
process of award of tenders does not exceed one month from the date of submission of
recommendations. In cases where the proposal is to be approved at higher levels, a maximum
of 15 days should be assigned for clearance at each level. In no case should the overall time
frame exceed the validity period of the tender and it should be ensured that tenders are
invariably finalized within their validity period.
1.18 E-TENDERING PROCESS :CPP PORTAL
1.18.1 INTRODUCTION
National Informatics Centre (NIC), Ministry of Electronics & Information
Technology, in close association with the Procurement Policy Division, Ministry of Finance,
has developed, hosted and implemented the Central Public Procurement Portal customized to
cater to the electronic procurement/ tendering requirements of the Central Government
Departments and other organizations. The primary objective of the portal is to provide a
single point access to the information on procurements made across various Ministries and
the line Departments.
The CPP Portal is accessible at the URL https://etenders.gov.in and it has e-
publishing and e-procurement modules.
It is mandatory for all Ministries/ Departments of the Central Government, Central
Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and Autonomous bodies to publish all their tender
enquiries issued on or after the following dates, on the CPP Portal
The system is made available as a platform and can easily be adopted for all kinds of
procurement such as Goods, Services & Works. It aims at transparency and non-
discrimination amongst bidders, by allowing free access to tender documents, clarifications,
secure on line bid submission and access to bid opening event to all, from any place on 24X7
basis, using the system through Internet, in a faster, and secure environment adopting industry
standard open technologies.
Variety of procurement requirements of varied procuring entities has been built in a
robust configurable, workflow-based manner. This can be configured for use by an
organization at its apex level, and at multiple subordinate levels, at which tenders could
independently be floated.
Strong in-built security features
Including two-factor Authentication with Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs) for
foreign nationals also as per IT Act, Usage of SSL, Role- based User Access and Bid-
encryption at Client end, using PKI technologies.
Various salient points addressed by this portal include:
Platform for publication of tender and bid award details by Central and State
Government Ministries, Departments and Organizations, PSUs and PSBs Free Access to
tender documents for all Facility to publish NIT through on-line form, Facility to publish
tender documents, to add corrigendum with document Facility to publish bid award details
along with contract document In public domain, no registration required for access/viewing
by public Email / SMS alerts at various milestones. Toll Free Helpline facility for all.
Categorized according to types of tenders, product categories, types of Organizations and
Organization name. Archived tenders are available in public domain Search facility available
using parameters like keywords, location, value, organization name, organization type, tender
type, and product categories

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Major goals and guiding objectives of CPPP

The prime objective is to educate, encourage/ incentivize and thus facilitate
Government Departments at all levels, through appropriate steps and interventions from
Central Government level, to readily adopt and use the Central Public Procurement Portal to
bring in transparency in tendering process and gradually move towards adoption of electronic
Procurement solution(s) for their procurement needs on a continuing basis. Act as catalyst in
streamlining the procurement processes of public/ Government sector with the help of ICT
tools and technologies, enabling them to harness the multidimensional benefits of e-
Procurement/ e-Tendering pertaining to: efficient and cost effective procurement, shortened
procurement cycles, full transparency in the whole process, avoidance of human discretion/
interference to the extent possible, easy availability of complete audit trail and evidential data
etc. Enable access to widest reach of tenders and unhindered secured bid submission facility
for all, from any corner of the country.
The central procurement portal can be accessed through the web address
https://etenders.gov.in/eprocure/app
WORKFLOW OF e-PROCUREMENT SYSTEM

Figure : Outline of different processes involved in e-tendering through CPP portal

1.18.1.1 Procurement of a Digital Signature (DSC)- Signing & Encryption of

Class-III.Registration on Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP)
1.18.1.2 Creation of Users and assigning of roles on CPPP
1.18.1.3 Logging in with username & password
1.18.1.4 Roles are of two types- e-publishing & e-tendering.
1.18.1.5 The e-publishing role is only assigned for publishing of tender and no
further tendering activities are allowed.

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Table 24. e-Publishing module and e-Procurement module

e-Publishing module e-Procurement module

1. Entails publishing of all tender enquiries, 1. Covers the complete tendering process
corrigenda thereto and awards of contract starting from online publishing of tender
thereon on the CPP Portal. enquiries, online bid submission by the
bidders, online bid opening, uploading of bid
evaluation results and publication of award of
Contract.
Under e-Publishing, the User Organisations Under e-Procurement, the complete tendering,
will continue to invite bids in paper based including the submission of bids by the bidders,
format. will be online.

2. Under the e-Publishing module, the User 2. Under the e-Procurement module, the User
Organisations are required to define two Organisations will be required to define two
roles for their officials authorised to use this additional roles apart from the Tender
module, viz. Creator and Tender Publisher as in e-
Publishing, viz.

a. Tender Creator/Procurement Officer The role of Bid Opener is

Admin - responsible for fillingup and
uploading the details of a tender enquiry /
corrigenda / award of Contract on the CPP Critical for e-Procurement. Bid openers should
Portal. be identified for each tender at the time of
publishing of the tender Enquiry.

Bid Evaluator - authorised to upload the

results of the various stages of bid
Evaluation on the CPP Portal.

b. Tender Publisher - responsible for c. Minimum of 4 Bid openers must be

publishing the tender enquiry / corrigenda / configured against each tender to avoid any
award of contract created by the Tender issues in tender opening
Creator on the CPP Portal.

d. It is suggested to have minimum 5 Digital

Signature Certificates to start with.

3. All authorized department users, from the 3. All authorized department users, from the
User Organizations, will be required to have
User Organizations, can login using a valid Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs),

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login ID and password assigned to in addition to their user ID and password, to

be able to operate the e-Procurement
them, to operatethe e-Publishing Module.

module of the CPP Portal. They do not

need any Additional mode of

authentication.

4. e-Publishing does not require the bidders to

enroll on the CPP Portal, since the bids will
4. e-Procurement requires the bidders to enroll
continue to be submitted in the paper based on the CPP Portal, using a valid Digital
format.
Signature Certificate (DSC) and Valid email
address. The bidders will be required to
submit their bids online on the e-Procurement
module.

Enrolment on e-Procurement module under CPPP

To enroll, each User Organization (Ministry/ Department, attached or subordinated
office) should follow the steps listed below:
I. Provide Ge-PNIC On-boarding Form
Intending Organizations may provide the Ge-PNIC On-boarding Form compiled
requests for all Regional Centers, if any, through their HQ on their Letterhead, mentioning
the Tender Floating Units and approx. Tender Volume to be published from each Unit.
These details would facilitate NIC in estimating the load on the back-end/
infrastructure and other support systems required to support concerned
Ministries/Departments/Organizations under CPP Portal. NIC may submit a proposal
indicating the timelines and cost considerations to augment (if required) in providing
required e-Procurement support to Ministries/Departments/Organizations under CPPP.
II. Acquire Digital Signature Certificates (DSCs)
To carry out e-Procurement using NIC’s e-Procurement Module, the authorized users
of the User Organization will be required to obtain valid DSCs. Authorized users will be
required toprocure DSC (both Signing and Encryption) of Class-III DSCs. It is recommended
to acquire a minimum 5 DSCs along with an encryption certificate by each TIA location.
III. Selection/ Nomination of Nodal Officer
Each User Organization (Ministry/ Department, attached or subordinated office) is
required to nominate one official as nodal officer in e-Procurement module who would
manage user accounts of concerned user organizations in the e-Procurement module. User
Organizations should submit filled-in Nodal Officer Account Creation form to NIC. On
creation of nodal officer account in e-Procurement module under CPPP, Nodalofficer should-

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(a) Set Password &

(b) Mapping of DSC with the account.
IV. Setting up of Organizational Hierarchy for mapping on the CPP Portal
Every User Organization has to ensure that their organizational structure/hierarchy (of
tender floating locations only) is properly mapped in e-Procurement Module. The sample
format given in portal may kindly be modified according to user organization hierarchy and
may mail to NIC for its creation.
V. Creation of User Accounts for officials of the User Organisation
The Nodal Officer/ sub-Nodal Officer(s) of each User Organisation will authorize
users within the organisation for various roles such as Tender Creator, Tender Publisher, Bid
Opener and Bid Evaluator who would use the e-Procurement module. For further details,
please refer CPPP Portal.
VI. Mapping of DSCs for all user accounts created in the User
Organization
The authorized users will be required to Set Password as well as map their DSCs with
their respective user profiles created by the Nodal Officer on the e-Procurement module.
VII. Assistance in floating of First /Pilot Tender in selected locations
User Organization has to modify its tender document for e-Procurement (e-
compliance) prior to publishing on the eProcurement module under CPPP. Notice Inviting
Tender in.pdf format is mandatory. Also, an e-Compliant Tender Document is required. User
Organization, if required, may request NIC well in advance, for any assistance in floating of
its first/ pilot Tender. Based on the availability of manpower with NIC prevalent at that time,
may provide required support at selected locations. Deputed manpower would guide user
organization on e-Tendering aspects only. Logistics support, if any, may be provided by a
concerned user organization.
1.19 CONCLUSION
The CPP Portal is very important e-tendering portal and mandatory for all Ministries/
Departments of the Central Government, Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and
Autonomous bodies to publish all their tender enquiries issued, the CPP Portal accessible at
the URL https://etender.gov.in
The system is made available as a platform and can easily be adopted for all kinds of
procurement such as Goods, Services & Works. It aims at transparency and non-
discrimination amongst bidders, by allowing free access to tender documents, clarifications,
secure on-line bid submission and access to bid opening event to all, from any place on 24X7
basis.
The tendering process is a means for businesses to put their services forward to fulfil
advertised contracts and projects. Winning tenders can prove to be profitable for businesses
but the process can seem demanding – every application is time-consuming and requires a
level of detail companies new to the system may not have expected. However, with proper
preparation and understanding, any business can perfect its approach to a tender and be
successful.

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