39. Eligibility of bidders.-

(1) A bidder may be a natural person, private entity, government-
owned entity or, where permitted in the bidding documents, any combination of them with a formal intent to enter into an agreement or under an existing agreement in the form of a Joint Venture. In the case of a Joint Venture: -

(a) all parties to the Joint Venture shall sign the bid and they shall be jointly and severally
liable; and

(b) a Joint Venture shall nominate a representative who shall have the authority to conduct all business for and on behalf of any or all the parties of the Joint Venture during the bidding process. In the event the bid of Joint Venture is accepted, either they shall form a registered Joint Venture company/firm or otherwise all the parties to Joint Venture shall sign the Agreement.

(2) A bidder should not have a conflict of interest in the procurement in question as stated in rule 81 and the bidding documents. The procuring entity shall take appropriate actions against the bidder in accordance with section 11 and Chapter IV of the Act, if it determines that a conflict of interest has flawed the integrity of any procurement process. All bidders found to have a conflict of interest shall be disqualified.

(3) A bidder debarred under section 46 shall not be eligible to participate in any procurement process undertaken by,-

(a) any procuring entity, if debarred by the State Government; and
(b) a procuring entity if debarred by such procuring entity.

(4) In case of procurement of goods, bidder must be a manufacturer, distributor or bona-fide dealer in the goods and it shall furnish necessary proof for the same in the specified format. Where applicable, proof of authorisation by the manufacturer or country distributor in India, shall be enclosed.