Para 5.1.2 — NONCONSULT_MANUAL

3. Procuring entities may issue instructions regarding appropriate delegation of authority for approval of the Tender Documents before these are floated/ uploaded.

5.1.2. Tender Documents49 1. The tender document is the fundamental document in the public procurement process as after award of the contract it becomes part of the contract agreement. A carefully prepared tender document avoids delays and complaints. This will also attract more bidders to formulate and submit their competitive bids with confidence. Hence, it is worth spending time and effort on this, even in cases of urgency. 2. Provisions/ clauses in the tender document should be clear, self-contained, and comprehensive, without any ambiguity. to avoid differences in interpretation and possible disputes, time overrun, cost overrun and quality compromises. While tender document should be complete in themselves and may be slightly different for various categories of procurements, these must necessarily address the essential aspects mentioned below (Rule 200 of GFR 2017). Model Tender Documents, issued by the DoE, which comply with all these requirements, may be used, with due customisation, as per the guidance notes annexed to the MTDs: a) The details of the work or service to be performed by the contractor; b) The facilities and the inputs which will be provided to the contractor by the Ministry of Department; c) Eligibility and qualification criteria to be met by the contractor for performing the required work/ service. The eligibility criteria should take care of the service provider’s limitation/ preference to participate in the Tender process. Criteria for determining the responsiveness of bids, criteria as well as factors to be considered for evaluating the bids on a common platform and the criteria for awarding the contract to the responsive, most advantageous (lowest/highest as the case may be) bidder; d) The statutory and contractual obligations to be complied with by the contractor.;

4. Eligibility criteria specify the very basic criteria that a bidder should meet to be considered a responsive bid to be evaluated further beyond the preliminary evaluation/ screening of bids. 5. Qualification Criteria: Technical and Financial qualification Criteria determine the capability of bidders (who have passed the eligibility criteria) to perform the contract. Only those bidders who meet the qualification criteria, go to the next step of evaluation for award of contract. They shall be clear and fair, having regard to the specific circumstances of the procurement. Public authorities should also keep the experience, technical and financial criteria broad-based so that bidders with experience in Services of a similar nature can participate. Appropriate parameters should be prescribed in the qualification criteria for bidders, to enable selection of the right type of bidders in public interest, balancing considerations of quality, time and cost. 6. Evaluation Criteria: Evaluation criteria are the final filter used to select the bidders (who have passed the qualification criteria) for the award of the contract. Depending on the requirement and value-for-money (VfM) considerations, the Procuring Entity may consider including, besides price, in the evaluation criteria in the Tender Document, one or more additional criteria, e.g. quality, technical merit, aesthetic and functional characteristics, environmental characteristics, running costs, cost-effectiveness and service level parameters, etc. No criteria shall be used for evaluation of tenders that cannot be verified or has not been specified in the Tender Document. 7. Open online tendering should be the default method to ensure efficiency of procurement. Public authorities should also keep the experience criteria broad based so that bidders with experience in similar nature of services can participate. 8. The Procuring Entity should allow the bidders enough time to prepare their proposals. The time allowed shall depend on the assignment but normally shall not be less than three weeks. In cases where the participation of international service providers is contemplated, a period of not less than four weeks should normally be allowed. 9. Tender documents should invariably reserve the Procuring Entity’s right without assigning any reason to: a) reject any or all of the Bids or b) cancel the tender process; or c) abandon the procurement of the Services; or d) issue another tender for identical or similar Services.

5.1.3. Contents of Tender Documents (Rule 168 of GFR 2017) 1. The Tender Document has the following main sections. A reading of the sections of the tender document will make the purpose and instructions clear:

a) Section I: Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) and its Appendix: Tender Information Summary (TIS) b) Section II: Instructions to Bidders (ITB) c) Section III: Appendix to Instructions to Bidders (AITB) d) Section IV: General Conditions of Contract (GCC) e) Section V: Special Conditions of Contract (SCC) f) Section VI: Schedule of Requirements i) Section VI-1: Services and Activities Schedule g) Section VII: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance i) Section VII-1: Method Statement

Manual for Procurement of Non-Consultancy Services, 2025 ii) Section VII-2: Work Plan iii) Section VII-3: Critical Material Schedule h) Section VIII: Qualification Criteria i) Section VIII-1: Personnel Schedule ii) Section VIII-2: Critical Equipment Schedule i) Financial Bid (BOQ Excel Sheet) j) Submission forms and formats, including Bid Form (Cover letter), bank guarantees and contract format, etc.