Government seeks to ease eligibility norms for consultancy tenders to help entry of domestic firms

The Department of Expenditure, under the Ministry of Finance, has issued an advisory to all central government departments and ministries to ease eligibility criteria in government consultancy tenders. This move aims to level the playing field between domestic consultancies and multinational firms, particularly the Big Four. The advisory discourages the use of high turnover requirements, excessive weightage to a firm's experience, and minimum staff strength on the bidder's payroll as eligibility criteria.

A study of consultancy procurement tenders floated on the GeM platform over the last three financial years revealed that such criteria unduly restricted competition. The advisory recommends that the staff strength prescribed in eligibility criteria should align with the actual manpower needed to execute the project. This reform is seen as a significant step towards promoting competition in government consultancy services, enabling specialized Indian firms to compete on merit.