New Delhi, Mar 9 (KNN) Consulting Engineers Association of India (CEAI) an apex body of consulting engineers in the country has urged Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi to revisit the age old existing tendering system in the country based on the Least Cost Selection Method or change L1 post haste for consultancy works as well as construction works and procurement of goods.

“For Complex projects like Expressway, Tunnels, Power Plants which require specialized state-of-art-technology, these should be awarded on Quality and cost Based Selection (QCBS) 90:10 basis (Technical Weightage 90 per cent and Financial Weightage 10 per cent). For highly Complex projects, like nuclear power plants, space technology, state-of-art military hardware, Quality-based-Selection should be adopted. No Works, Goods or Consultancy Services should be procured on Least Cost Basis. For all such projects, the standard deviation method should be applied to remove abnormally low rates - which is the ill of all problems;'' said Ajay Pradhan, President, CEAI in a letter to PM.

“To successfully launch the Atamnirbhar Bharat vision, No work, however complex should be awarded to an International Company; the work should be awarded to a joint venture of an Indian company and an International company, with the Indian firm bringing the local knowledge and financial strength to the consortium, and the international firm, the technical knowhow; In all consultancy assignments requiring an International company, minimum 40 per cent key staff must be provided by the Indian company besides all logistics like office facilities, operations, vehicles and  local administration.” said K K Kapila, Chairman, Diamond Jubilee Committee of the CEAI.

“The essential Condition for the International Company should be to transfer specialized knowledge and technology to the Indian Partner through limited specialized input; and, The payment to the foreign partner should be linked with Transfer of Technology;” kapila added.

CEAI also urges the government to make an Amendment in the Constitution to clearly bring out that the Government of India will never resort to any Retrospective Taxation.

''Similarly the PPP Agreement must explicitly include that if the concessionaire is restrained from collecting the toll in Highway projects or a Power Project is foreclosed; they will be compensated on an agreed mechanism contained in the Agreement; For instance, if in a Highway Project, Toll collection is stopped in the 2nd Year, the Concessionaire is to be compensated with certain amount  without any ifs and buts; Similarly in the case of a Power Purchase Agreement if it is foreclosed, the Concessionaire will be compensated in a graded manner depending on the time of closure,'' Kapila said

CEAI has also demanded change in the definition of an MSME Company. Currently a company is registered as MSME Co., if it has a turnover upto Rs 250 crore (excluding foreign exchange earnings).

''CEAI requests to increase this threshold to Rs 400 crore (excluding foreign exchange earnings). The Consulting fraternity is fully committed to make the Nation Self Reliant and firmly believes that the above enumerated recommendations, when adopted, would greatly assist to fast track the concept of Atmanirbhar Bharat in the country,'' Kapila added.