Finance Ministry reworks manual for goods procurement by govt

NEW DELHI: After a gap of almost 10 years, the finance ministry has revised the manual for procurement of goods by the government in consonance with the principles of transparency and economy and ease of doing business.

Various government organisations procure a wide variety of goods and services and undertake execution of works in keeping with their duties and responsibilities.

Over the last few years, the government has issued new instructions in the domain of public procurement, including introduction of Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP), Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and preferential market access for micro and small enterprises, among others.

The Department of Expenditure under the ministry in 2006 had prepared a set of three manuals on policies and procedures for procurement of goods, works and hiring of consultants.

The ministry said the general financial rules (GFR) were revised comprehensively in March 2017 and consequently the 'Manual of Procurement' too has been revised after a decade.

"The new Manual on Procurement of Goods has been extensively revised in keeping with GFR 2017 and in consonance with the fundamental principles of transparency, fairness, competition, economy, efficiency and accountability," said Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa in the foreword section of the manual.

The manual among other things describes product reservation and preferential or mandatory purchase from certain sources; formulation of technical specifications; supplier relationship management and code of integrity.

Lavasa expressed confidence that the manual will bring about greater transparency and predictability in government procedures and help in improving the ease of doing business with the government.