New Delhi, May 18 (KNN) The Finance Ministry has revised the manual for procurement of goods by the government in order to bring in more transparency, fairness, competition, economy, efficiency and accountability.

In the foreword section of the manual, Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said, “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."

The manual has been revised after a gap of almost 10 years.

In the last few years, the Government of India has issued new instructions in the domain of public procurement. Some of these important changes include introduction of Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP), Government e-Marketplace (GeM), preferential market access for micro and small enterprises (MSMEs), preference for domestic manufacturers of electronic goods, inclusion of integrity pact, etc.

The two important provisions for the MSMEs that has been added in the manual includes public procurement from MSEs and procurement preference for Domestically Manufactured Electronic Products.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had notified a policy (subsequently revised) for Preferential Market Access (PMA) in Government procurement for Domestically Manufactured Electronic Products (DMEP), having a specified minimum domestic Value Addition (VA) for notified items of Electronics and Networking.

Subsequently eligible products have been notified and guidelines have been issued for implementation of the policy. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has also notified 23 (twenty-three) Telecom Products11. Latest details of policy and notifications may be referred to on MeitY website.

To enable wider dispersal of enterprises in the country, particularly in rural areas, the Central Government Ministries or Departments or Public Sector Undertakings shall continue to procure items reserved for procurement exclusively from MSE, presently 358 (three hundred and fiftyeight) items including eight items of Handicrafts, from Micro and Small Enterprises, which have been reserved for exclusive purchase from them.

The latest list has been uploaded on the website of the MSME Ministry.

The GFR has been revised comprehensively in March 2017 covering inter-alia these set of new instructions.

Consequently the Manual of Procurement too has been revised after a decade and within a month of the release of GFR 2017.

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