Internationalisation of Government Procurement Regulation: The Case of India

Abstract

In the absence of a national public procurement policy, a plethora of rules and procedures govern public purchase practices of federal and sub-federal government entities including public sector enterprises (PSEs) in India. While these norms generally follow international best practices, their implementation falls short in providing transparency, accountability, efficiency and professionalism in the award of public contracts. With mandatory e-tendering of federal, sub-federal and PSE contracts already in place, enacting the lapsed Public Procurement Bill 2012, which inter alia provides for an independent dispute resolution mechanism and integrating states within a national procurement policy would complete the set of reforms needed to usher in transparency and efficiency in public purchases and internationalise the country’s government procurement regulation.