Discrimination in IT tenders, say local firms

new delhi: the government may swear by swadeshi, but when it comes to it purchases many of its arms bank only on mnc brands. despite a circular by the ministry of finance (mof) that asks departments to not bar indian vendors, many government departments and psus still do not allow indian vendors to participate in the tendering process. with the government sector being one of the largest it purchasers, many indian vendors are left in the lurch unable to make a dent where it matters most.along with the product specifications, many government departments and psus also name a few vendors whose products would be acceptable. after much pursuing by mait, the mof had issued a directive to all government departments not to specify company names while issuing a tender and that every vendor be given equal opportunity. the circular, the directive said, should only give product specifications. though the mof directive is not legally binding, many departments have issued a corrigendum on the original tender and made it vendor neutral. “we don’t have any legal to take action against tenders like these but many government departments have realised the error and issued corrigendums,� said vinnie mehta, director of mait. the practice of quoting mnc vendor names started as mnc products were perceived to be more reliable. however, in the mof circular, government agencies were asked to lay out broad parameters instead of specific brand names. “it is advised that the ministries and departments should follow the open tender system without vitiating it by specifying brand names for the purchase of pcs,� the directive said. “though we follow the specifications given out, we are sometimes unable to participation in the tender process because of the brands mentioned in the tender,� complains a pc vendor. while the government is encouraging domestic manufacturing, he adds, some of its agencies are working at cross purposes by mentioning select mnc brands. however, the indian vendors are not the only ones complaining. chip manufacturer amd also feels left out as many tenders mention only intel chips in their specification.