Finance Ministry releases guidelines for reforms in Public Procurement and Project Management - (29 Oct 2021)

Commercial

In order to ensure efficient and transparent execution of projects, Finance Ministry releases guidelines for reforms in Public Procurement and Project Management. Guidelines attempts to incorporate innovative rules. The draft of the guidelines was prepared under the aegis of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) after a detailed consultative process involving experts from various fields of public procurement and project management.

The guidelines attempts to empower executing agencies to take quicker and more efficient decision in public interest. Some of the improvements include prescribing strict timelines for payments, when due. Timely release of ad hoc payments (70% or more of bills raised) is expected to improve liquidity with the contractors especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).Alternative methods for selection of contractors have been permitted, which can improve speed and efficiency in execution of projects. In appropriate cases, quality parameters can be given weightage during evaluation of the proposal in a transparent and fair manner, through a Quality cum Cost Based Selection (QCBS), as an alternative to traditional L1 system.

Executing public projects on time, within the approved cost and with good quality has always been a challenge. As the pace of economic development steps up, careful examination of procedures and rules is essential to ensure unwarranted roadblocks are removed and new innovations utilized for increasing value for money of the taxpayer.The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) and the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog had carried out detailed analysis of the procedures and rules for public procurement and project management and had suggested changes in strategies to meet challenges of present and future public procurement.

Tags : GUIDELINES REFORMS PUBLIC PROCUREMENT