Govt plans penalties & stricter rules for tenders up to Rs 100 crore

NEW DELHI: The Centre is rewriting work contracts and procurement norms for tenders up to Rs 100 crore to seek more declarations from partnership and foreign firms, build in stricter rules, and provide for penalties for poor goods and services.The Department of Expenditure (DOE) wrote to all ministries, departments and central public service enterprises (CPSEs) last month seeking feedback.The new contract and procurement manual is expected by July, ET has learnt. While the bigger contracts go through proper scrutiny, contracts below Rs 100 crore are assigned by departments, ministries and CPSEs in their independent capacity."The purpose is to ensure complete transparency in smaller contracts which are assigned independently on ministry, department, or board level of CPSEs," a senior official told ET. "The plan is also to create a database of contractors, agents and suppliers with service ratings so that it is easier to give contracts seeing the track record."The Centre is also planning to tighten norms in case an Indian contractor was procuring goods from foreign suppliers, mandating them to give complete details of the vendors and supply chain and the country of origin.Indian contractors with foreign nationals on its board of directors must give a declaration. In case of companies backed by foreign investors with above 15% stake, they are required to give disclosures. The foreign contractor directly participating in the process must give the name of India representatives and reveal the amount of commission in the quoted price for such agents or representatives in India.The departments must independently verify if the company is a real functioning company.The new contract will also have the provision of independent monitoring through an external panel of Independent External Monitors nominated by the central vigilance commission at an organisation's request.