Para 5.3.4 — CONSULT_MANUAL

2. Eligibility to Participate: As the RFP following the earlier EOI shortlisting process, this invitation is open only to consultants who have been shortlisted therein or are specifically invited to participate. It is not permissible for the shortlisted consultants to transfer this RFP to any other firm without the permission of the Procuring Entity. Proposals from consultants who have not been shortlisted shall not be entertained. The shortlisted Consultant must continue to meet the eligibility criteria prescribed in the EOI document (based inter-alia on which they were shortlisted), including restrictions on Consultants from specified countries as of the date of his Proposal submission and should continue to meet these till the award of the contract. Consultants must provide evidence of their continued eligibility to the Procuring Entity if requested.

3. Association among Shortlisted Consultants: Unless otherwise stipulated in TIS/ AITC, if a shortlisted Consultant considers that it may enhance its expertise for the assignment by associating with other consultants in the form of a Joint Venture or as Sub-consultants, it may do so with either

(a) non-shortlisted Consultant

(s) or

(b) shortlisted Consultants, without vitiating the shortlisting criteria of the REOI. The shortlisted Consultant shall be a lead member when associating with non-shortlisted firms as a joint venture. If shortlisted Consultants associate with each other, any of them can be a lead member. A shortlisted Consultant must obtain the Procuring Entity's written approval not later than 14 days before the RfP submission deadline, in all such cases. Such approval shall be denied if

(i) a shortlisted Consultant proposes to associate with an ineligible Consultant or, in case of an ineligible joint venture, any of its members

(ii) because of the change, the consultant no longer substantially meets the qualification criteria outlined in REOI document, or

(iii) if, in the opinion of the Procuring Entity, a substantial reduction in competition may result.

4. Preferential Procurement Policies: Preferential Procurement policies applicable to the RfP are mentioned (MSEs, Start-ups, Make in India etc.)

5. RfP Validity: RfP shall remain valid for a period not less than 90 (ninety) days from the deadline for the RfP submission.

5.3.4 Important Provisions of ITC 1. ITC contains all relevant information as well as guidance to the prospective bidders regarding - obtaining tender documents, preparing, and submitting a responsive bid, process of establishing the eligibility/ qualification credentials of the bidders as well as evaluation and comparison of tenders, Code of Integrity in Public Procurement (CIPP), process of grievance redressal, and declaration of results. It also contains introduction/ overview of its contents. Other important provisions in an ITC are:

6. Evaluation/ Scoring Criteria: Evaluation shall, inter-alia, consider the Consultant’s

(i) “Specific experience of the Consultant (as a firm) relevant to the Assignment”; ii) “Adequacy and quality of the proposed methodology, and work plan”; iii) “Key Experts’ qualifications and competence for the Assignment”. It also specifies, if JV/C are permitted, how credentials of members of JV/C would be considered in evaluation. Procuring Entity may, ask all shortlisted Consultants to deliver presentation on their technical proposals. This presentation shall only cover contents of the technical proposals submitted by the Consultant. Unless otherwise provided, no marks shall be assigned to the presentation. Opportunities for such presentations shall be provided in a manner to provide a level playing field to all shortlisted consultants, including time limits for such presentations.

7. Terms of Reference (ToR): As mentioned earlier ToR describes the background, purpose/ objectives, description/ scope of work, inputs of Key Experts, deliverables/ outcomes, inputs to be provided by the Procuring Entity; and timelines of the required ‘Service’.