Gujarat Procurement Policy 2024 announced to accelerate Make In India initiatives

Gandhinagar : Chief Minister  Bhupendra Patel has announced ‘Gujarat Procurement Policy-2024’ to further accelerate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives. Following the Prime Minister’s directive of “Vocal for Local,” Gujarat will extend a special incentive in government procurement to MSME industries and women-led enterprises through this policy.

This new ‘Gujarat Procurement Policy-2024’ announced by the State Government under the direction of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will be implemented from 1st April 2024 and this policy will remain in effect till the announcement of another policy with any amendments or other provisions. The new procurement policy will cover procurement of goods and services by all state government departments, HODs, district offices, authorities, grant-in-aid institutions/boards/corporations/societies.

The Gujarat State Procurement Policy 2016 is currently in effect in the state. Building on its success, this new policy aims to further promote procurement from Micro and Small Enterprises within the state. Moreover, the new procurement policy will specifically encourage the procurement of goods and services from micro, cottage, and small enterprises, particularly those owned by SC/ST and women entrepreneurs. It will also prioritize procurement from MSEs based in Gujarat over other suppliers and promote procurement from startups in the state.

Announced by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the new policy emphasizes the advantages of sourcing from local suppliers. Accordingly, eligible suppliers will be exempted from Tender Fee and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) requirements. Furthermore, under this policy, the state government has established various procurement limits without the need for a tender process. These include procurement of up to ₹15 lakh from government institutions, procurement of up to ₹15 lakh from government-owned institutions or public sector units (PSUs), and procurement of up to ₹5 lakh from startups.

Startups are now exempt from minimum prior experience and turnover criteria, providing a significant boost to the operations of these nascent enterprises. The New Procurement Policy-2024 prioritizes the procurement of goods and services from suppliers that contribute to high-value addition in India specifically in Gujarat. Global Tender Inquiries will only be issued for procurements exceeding ₹200 crore. Additionally, the policy mandates that all procurements above ₹1 lakh, including those through the GeM portal, must be conducted via e-tender. Moreover, the policy requires the adoption of BIS product specifications for items with available BIS-approved criteria. As part of this initiative, the state government has decided to promote the procurement of all goods and services through the Government-e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.

Before preparing this new policy, the government solicited input from various organizations, manufacturing units, associations, boards, corporations, government departments, and heads of departments for revisions to the Purchase Policy. The revised policy now places greater emphasis on the Make in India initiative and incorporates relevant suggestions from stakeholders.

The newly introduced Gujarat Procurement Policy-2024 also aligns with the Prime Minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. It is noteworthy that the state government procured goods and services totalling more than ₹1.47 lakh crore in the year 2022-23 under the existing Gujarat Procurement Policy 2016.