Bhubaneswar, Jan 22 (FN Bureau) The Odisha Cabinet on Monday approved the Odisha Procurement Preference Policy for Micro and Small Manufacturing Enterprises 2023. The new policy is expected to boost the business activity of Odisha small manufacturing enterprises by preferentially procuring their manufactured goods from state government establishments. This policy is applicable to all state government establishments as far as the procurement of goods by them is concerned and will not be applicable to the procurement of services, including work contracts and EPC contracts.
Official sources said the policy intends to benefit Odisha Small (and Micro) Manufacturing Enterprises (OSMEs) whose turnover is not more than Rs. 50 crore per annum. Startups with an annual turnover of not more than Rs. 50 crore will also benefit from this policy on par with other small manufacturing enterprises. The policy has a provision for an ‘Exclusive List’ where goods that are manufactured by a fairly large number of Odisha small manufacturing enterprises shall be enlisted. Procurement of such goods by state government establishments shall be mandatorily made on the basis of competitive bidding limited only to Odisha Small Manufacturing Enterprises, i.e., through the intra-state tender process. Once this new policy is notified, items will be enlisted under ‘Exclusive List’ from time to time. The procurement of goods that are not enlisted on the exclusive list shall be done through an open tender process. Odisha Small Manufacturing Enterprises will be entitled to price preference in open tenders with a price preference margin of 10 percent for 25 percent of the total procurement quantity.
The price preference concept will not be applicable if the bid of the lowest-bidding Odisha Small Manufacturing Enterprises is beyond the LI+10 percent range. In intra-state as well as open tender processes, Odisha Small Manufacturing Enterprises will be exempt from depositing the cost of tender paper and EMD. They shall also be fully exempt from the requirement of past work experience criteria. For intra-state tenders, they shall be exempt from the annual turnover criteria, whereas for open tenders, the annual turnover criteria shall be relaxed in favor of them by 90 percent. This policy is applicable to the procurement of goods where the procurement quantity is divisible and not to the procurement of goods where the procurement quantity is not divisible.