Update On India - Cabinet Approves The Public Procurement Bill 2012

The Indian Cabinet of Ministers has recently approved the draft Public Procurement Bill 2012 (Procurement Bill), which will be tabled before the Indian parliament.  At present there is not legislation in India governing public procurement by the Indian government's ministries, departments and offices.  The Bill seeks to create a single overarching legislation to govern the state's procurement process.

• The Bill establishes the procedure to be followed by the government and by public sector undertakings for procurements.  This procedure will not apply to procurements where the estimated cost is less than INR 0.5 million.
• Each bidder is required to establish a code of integrity, which should contain provisions to prohibit offers, solicitation and acceptance of any bribes or material benefits either directly or indirectly in exchange for any unfair advantage in a procurement process, to prevent any collusion or anti-competitive behaviour which would impair