Bhubaneshwar, August 28, 2014
“World over, Public Procurement is seen as an important tool for achieving socio-economic development and other objectives. There is, therefore, a need to comply with a myriad of legislation and guidelines and this presents a challenge particularly for a vast and developing country like India”, said Simi TB, Assistant Policy Analyst, CUTS International.
Welcoming the participants to the meeting on ‘Public Procurement: Need for a National Policy in India’, 28th August 2014 in Bhubaneshwar, she further said “Till today, a major shortcoming of our Public Procurement system is its fragmented nature coupled with inadequacy off coverage. Now that the Public Procurement Bill 2012 has lapsed, it is expected that a comprehensive coverage of all regulatory aspects critical to public procurement would be taken care of when a new bill is introduced. Therefore, we have to make use of this moment to first adopt a National public Procurement Policy of India, followed by the enactment of the modern law on the subject”.
This is a 2-year project, supported by the British High Commission under the Prosperity Fund of the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, aims to explore necessary elements of a National Procurement Policy of India and their interfaces with other major macroeconomic policies so as to frame a draft Policy and advocate for its adoption and implementation.
The meeting on stakeholder Consultation was arranged by CUTS International in partnership with a number of local partners in Odisha like Utkal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (UCCI), Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) and Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in the premises of UCCI in Bhubaneshwar.
Chief guest Tejeswar Parida, President, Odhisa Khadi & Village Industries Board said, “The fact that foreign direct investment (FDI) should not be allowed at the cost of the domestic manufacturers and any effort taken by the country with regards to public procurement should be primarily towards the promotion of domestic industries, particularly Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)”.
Most of the participants were also apprehensive of opening up of sectors like energy, railways, telecommunication, health and construction. They feel it may wipe out the domestic industry especially the SMEs for whom tough competition from foreign players may prove life threatening.
Supporting CUTS view on lobbying, Vivek Pattanayak, IAS (retd), Member UCCI said, “lobbying as such should not be curtailed, but efforts should be taken to distinguish between good and bad lobbying practices. Good lobbying is vital for an effective and informed purchase by procurement officials”.
The workshop brought together relevant decision makers from the Government of India, business and export associations, entrepreneurs, academicians and civil society representatives across the state of Orissa.
For more information, please contact:
Simi T. B, +91 8971 9993 99, stb@cuts.org
Aditi Roy, +91-8741861680, adr@cuts.org
“World over, Public Procurement is seen as an important tool for achieving socio-economic development and other objectives. There is, therefore, a need to comply with a myriad of legislation and guidelines and this presents a challenge particularly for a vast and developing country like India”, said Simi TB, Assistant Policy Analyst, CUTS International.
Welcoming the participants to the meeting on ‘Public Procurement: Need for a National Policy in India’, 28th August 2014 in Bhubaneshwar, she further said “Till today, a major shortcoming of our Public Procurement system is its fragmented nature coupled with inadequacy off coverage. Now that the Public Procurement Bill 2012 has lapsed, it is expected that a comprehensive coverage of all regulatory aspects critical to public procurement would be taken care of when a new bill is introduced. Therefore, we have to make use of this moment to first adopt a National public Procurement Policy of India, followed by the enactment of the modern law on the subject”.
This is a 2-year project, supported by the British High Commission under the Prosperity Fund of the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, aims to explore necessary elements of a National Procurement Policy of India and their interfaces with other major macroeconomic policies so as to frame a draft Policy and advocate for its adoption and implementation.
The meeting on stakeholder Consultation was arranged by CUTS International in partnership with a number of local partners in Odisha like Utkal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (UCCI), Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) and Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in the premises of UCCI in Bhubaneshwar.
Chief guest Tejeswar Parida, President, Odhisa Khadi & Village Industries Board said, “The fact that foreign direct investment (FDI) should not be allowed at the cost of the domestic manufacturers and any effort taken by the country with regards to public procurement should be primarily towards the promotion of domestic industries, particularly Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)”.
Most of the participants were also apprehensive of opening up of sectors like energy, railways, telecommunication, health and construction. They feel it may wipe out the domestic industry especially the SMEs for whom tough competition from foreign players may prove life threatening.
Supporting CUTS view on lobbying, Vivek Pattanayak, IAS (retd), Member UCCI said, “lobbying as such should not be curtailed, but efforts should be taken to distinguish between good and bad lobbying practices. Good lobbying is vital for an effective and informed purchase by procurement officials”.
The workshop brought together relevant decision makers from the Government of India, business and export associations, entrepreneurs, academicians and civil society representatives across the state of Orissa.
For more information, please contact:
Simi T. B, +91 8971 9993 99, stb@cuts.org
Aditi Roy, +91-8741861680, adr@cuts.org