How do I tender to a government contracts in india?

Published : 7/01/2020

Getting Government Contracts for Business in India Via Tenders
Tender is a term most of us know or heard about in the past. People who file tenders on a regular basis are very much familiar with the terms but also people who are not in the business must have heard this term in some way or the other. Organisations or entities as a whole bid for private and government tenders in India and earn their livelihood by completing the projects as per the deadline and under the specified rules mentioned in the tender document by the organisation issuing the tender.

What are Tenders
Tender in simpler terms is a contract that is issued by an entity to get their project completed by another entity as per the guidelines and deadlines mentioned. The entity issues a tender document in which the details of the work along with the deadlines and other rules are mentioned clearly and whoever is interested to work on the project can bid at the lowest cost possible. There are various ways of allocating the tender and it completely depends on the issuing authority how it selects the right organisation for their work. Some organisations look for the lowest cost, while some look for the quality work. Some might even go for a draw and whoever’s name comes in the draw, gets the tender.

There are different types of tenders and the issuing organisation decides which type of tender they want to publish depending on their requirements. Open tenders are open to bidding for everyone. Selective tenders are tenders which require certain pre-requisite information to be filled by the bidder and based on that information, they are invited for bidding. Negotiation tenders are the tenders which are not published for general bidders and are directly allocated to the trustworthy organisations based on their past quality work. Again the types of tenders vary from industry to industry.

Why government tenders?
It has been observed that government tenders in India are given more priority as compared to private tenders for various reasons. Although the clearance of funds in government organisations are late in comparison to private ones but it is assured that funds will be cleared at any cost while there is always a dilemma in the private organisations when it comes to clearance of funds and money processings. Also, if you have built a good reputation of your organisation by giving a quality work in the past, there are more chances of you getting the work repeatedly as compared to other organisations which are new in the business.

How to apply for government tenders in India
Now the prime question is, how should one apply for government tenders? They are lucrative but not everybody is fortunate to get government tenders as millions of people bid for them and the allocation is done with strict guidelines. Some of the steps that is followed while applying for the government tenders in India are mentioned below. These steps are mentioned in the tender documents as well and you can always refer them before applying

The procurement policy of the client organisation must be very well known to the bidder.
The bidder must know clearly about GFR 2017
All the CVC guidelines must be very well known to the bidders
If a foreign entity, the bidder must know everything about the investment norms.
The bidder must know everything about Indian Constitution, laws, acts and notifications that is related to tendering process and the project issuing the tender
In case of disputes, the bidder must be well aware of the tendering disputes and court judgements
The best industrial practices must be known to the bidder so that there are no hindrances while bidding
Inorder to apply online, all the rules of e-tendering on the public procurement portal must be very well known to the bidder
The delegation of financial powers rules must be known by the bidders so that it is easier to find out if the right authority is doing the right approvals.
The rules and guidelines mentioned by the competition commission of India must be very well known to the bidder.
The bidder must know the UNCITRAL model law and must be aware about the process


Tenders issued by the central and state governments in India are very lucrative and if bid at the right time and with little caution can make a successful contractor. Hope this guide will clear most of your doubts regarding government tenders.