Government Procurement in India

The Case of PSUs in the Light of WTO Procurement Agreements

Abstract

Government procurement comprises a substantial amount of total procurement for every economy in recent years. In light of the present procurement market and existing structure, this study throws light on the evolving amount of procurement by the Indian PSUs in recent years in light of the WTO agreements. Though there is some degree of uncertainty and difficulties in the exact size and the pattern of procurement by these PSUs, the study finds a voluminous increase in the awarded contract value in the last three years. With the use of the official database of the Maharatna and the Navratna companies and the PROWESS database, the procurement under broad utility groups for 185 PSUs shows that the utilities and services groups stand highest followed by the manufacturing, extraction and oil sector companies. The PSUs under the Maharatna/ Navratna category contribute a substantial proportion to the total procurement as evidenced by the findings.