Appendix-21

Agreed Procedures for National Competitive Bidding [NCB]

i)          Only the model bidding documents for NCB agreed with the GOI Task Force [and as amended for time to time], shall be used for bidding;

ii)         Invitations to bid shall be advertised in at least one widely circulated national daily newspaper, at least 30 days prior to the deadline for the submission of bids;

iii)         No special preference will be accorded to any bidder either for price or for other terms and conditions when competing with foreign bidders, state-owned enterprises, small-scale enterprises or enterprises from any given State;

iv)        Except with the prior concurrence of the Bank, there shall be no negotiation of price with the bidders, even with the lowest evaluated bidder;

v)         Extension of bid validity shall not be allowed without the prior concurrence of the Bank (i) for the first request for extension if it is longer than eight weeks; and (ii) for all subsequent requests for extension irrespective of the period (such concurrence will be considered by Bank only in cases of Force Majeure and circumstances beyond the control of the Purchaser / Employer);

vi)        Re-bidding shall not be carried out without the prior concurrence of the Bank. The system of rejecting bids outside a pre-determined margin or “bracket” of prices shall not be used in the project;

vii)        Rate contracts entered into by Directorate General of Supplies & Disposals, will not be acceptable as a substitute for NCB procedures. Such contracts will be acceptable however for any procurement under National Shopping procedures;

viii)       Two or three envelop system will not be used.

Important Points To Be Noted in the World Bank-Financed Contracts

1.               Principal criteria followed in the World Bank procurement procedures are transparency, economy and efficiency, opportunity to all eligible bidders from all countries, and encouraging development of domestic contracting and manufacturing industries.

2.               Bank approved model bidding documents for procurement of Works and Equipment (ICB/NCB) should be used fixing appropriate qualification & evaluation criteria and ensuring filling of all blanks.

3.               Detailed design and engineering, including soil investigation, acquisition of land for works and preparation of technical specification for equipment, to be completed before invitations of bids.

4.               Bank will normally not finance additional floors in existing buildings.  However as an exception, where the initial design of a building contemplated additional floors, which were not built due to budgetary constraints and the ITL is fully satisfied of the design, then only the World Bank will agree for financing those additional floors under the credit/loan.

5.               Schedule of rates (based on which estimates are prepared) should be updated regularly taking into account realistic data based on the construction methodology to be used, current market prices for materials and labour, and reasonable contractor’s profit.

6.               Bill of Quantities should have a separate schedule for those general items, which are not covered in analysis of rates adopted for estimation.

7.                (a) Bid Security:

     A fixed amount usually 2 to 5% for Goods and 1 to 3% for works [For small value purchases and in some specific cases, where bid security is considered not essential, for example in vehicles it could be dispensed with] [a system of self declaration by bidders under which a winning bidder who does not sign the contract becomes ineligible for bidding for a specified period is provided in the new Guidelines as acceptable alternative].

(b)      Performance Security:                                                         Goods

                Works                                                       

                                  5% of contract price                                                   5 to 10% of contract price

(c)       Retention Money:                                                   Goods 

                Works                                                               

                                  5% of contract price           NIL

                                  (50% to be retained till completion

                                  of the whole of the works and 50%

                                  to be retained till the end of defects

                                  liability period)

(Bank guarantees submitted by bidders/contractors/suppliers should be unconditional and be in the specified formats.  Bid and performance securities of Joint Ventures should be in the name of all partners in the Joint Ventures submitting the bid).

8.     Samples

Bidding documents should generally avoid submission of samples along with bids by bidders as this requirement discourages competition and increases the bid prices.  Alternatively bidders should be requested to confirm that their product meets with the required specifications and in support attach appropriate test certificates from recognized testing laboratories.

9.         No filtration in the sale of bidding document.  It should be sold and made           available           by mail as well, to all whosoever pays the required fee and requests for it.

10.       Where Bidders are not pre-qualified, minimum post-qualification criteria should be        clearly specified in the bidding document and enforced.

11.       Contractors should be made responsible to provide all materials including Cement          and Steel etc.

12.       Minimum bidding period for NCB- 30 days and ICB- 45 days (from the date of            Publication of IFB in press /UNDB or the date the documents are made ready for sale, whichever is later).

13.       Bidding documents should be made available for sale till a day prior to the last   date of receipt of bids.  The time for the public bid opening should be the same for    the deadline for receipt of bids or promptly thereafter (to allow only sufficient           time to take the bids to the place announced for public bid opening).

Bidders could submit their bids either by post or in person on any day during the bidding period.  Bids should be received only at one place and should be kept in safe custody till the stipulated time of opening.

14.              Publicity of Bid Notices

15.       No preference to any bidders or class of bidders, either for price or for other items        and conditions.

16.       Two or three envelope system is un-acceptable.

17.       All bids received should be opened and read out at the time of bid opening, which         should be immediately after the deadline for submission of bids. No bids should be   rejected at bid opening except for late bids, which should be returned unopened to    the Bidder. Minutes of Bid opening must be prepared and one copy forwarded to the    World Bank through the Project Implementation Unit, National Agricultural   Innovation Project (NAIP) for information.

18.       No negotiations.

19.       Evaluation of bids should be made strictly in terms of the provisions and criteria disclosed in the bidding document. Evaluation report should be drafted on the suggested format (available in the detailed Guidelines on Procurement under the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP). A copy may also be obtained from PIU, NAIP).

20.       Single bids should also be considered for award if it is determined that publicity was adequate, bid specifications/conditions were not restrictive or unclear and        bid prices are considered reasonable.

21.       Award should be in favour of the lowest evaluated responsive bidder, who is     determined to be qualified to perform the contract satisfactorily.

22.       Evaluation and award decision of bids including the World Bank review should be completed within the initial period of bid validity. An extension of bid validity, if justified by exceptional circumstances shall be requested in writing from all bidders (of valid bids only) before the expiration date.  The extension shall be for the minimum period required to complete evaluation, obtaining necessary approvals and award of contract. In the case of fixed price contracts the bid validity period may be extended a second time only if the bidding documents or the request for         extension shall provide for appropriate adjustment of the bid price to reflect changes         in the cost of inputs for the contract over the period of extension. Such an increase in           the bid price shall not be taken into account in the bid evaluation.        In the case of    prior review contracts, the Bank’s prior approval will be required for (1) a first             extension of the validity period if the period of extension exceeds 4 weeks;        and any subsequent extension of the bid validity period.

If there is an undue delay in awarding the contract. The Bank may consider declaring the same as mis-procurement.

23.       For works valued Rupees ten million and above the construction method(s)/      Program and quality control details submitted by the bidders in response to Clause 4.3 (k) of ITB (W2) should be examined for acceptability before finalizing the        award recommendations; this should be attached to the contract agreement for facilitating monitoring during implementation.

24.       The system of rejecting bids outside a predetermined margin or bracket of prices           will       not be used. Rejection of all bids, irrespective of value, should be referred to             the World Bank through PIU, NAIP for review and issue of no objection [Rejection             is permitted only if the lowest bid is much higher than available budget resources.]             Format for seeking no objection of Bank provided separately.

25.       Rejection of bids due to submission of collusive (unreasonably high) prices will attract provisions of Para 1.15 of Procurement Guidelines. In such cases bidders must be requested to furnish breakdown of unit rates in terms of clause 25.1 of ITB (NCB works) providing justification for higher bid prices. If this justification, after review, is determined rational, the contract should be awarded to the lowest evaluated responsive bidder. If not, these bidders must be declared as ineligible in the rebid for that contract as specified in clause 4.8 of ITB (NCB works).

26.       In the case of civil works splitting in award of contracts shall not be carried out.             When two or more bidders quote the same lowest price, an investigation should be made to determine any evidence of collusion, following which:   

i)          if collusion is determined, the parties involved should be disqualified and                                     the award should then be made to the next lowest evaluated and qualified                          bidder; and

ii)         if no evidence of collusion can be confirmed, then fresh bids should be                           invited after receiving the concurrence of the World Bank through                                        PIU-NAIP.

27.       Under ICB/NCB bids should not be invited on the basis of bidders        quoting a          percentage premium or discount over the estimated cost of the Employer.

28.       During execution of contracts, all material modification or waiver of the terms and          conditions of contract or material extension of stipulated time or change order      which would increase the contract cost by over 15% should be reported to the World Bank.

29.       Repeat order system is not permissible.

30.       In all contracts for works (civil as well as supply/erection), the   adjudicator/technical expert or Dispute Review Board should be in position       constituted immediately on signing of the Contract Agreement.

31.       Results of award should be published in Development Business and Gateway for           ICB/LIB and Direct Contracting.

32.       Review of Contracts by the World Bank

Prior Review:

It consists of review of:

·        Invitation for bid;

·        Bidding documents;

·        Minutes of the pre-bid conference;

·        Bid evaluation report (suggested format included in the detailed Guidelines); and

·        Final contract(s) with checklists (format of checklist included in the detailed Guidelines)

·        Procurement plan

Thresholds proposed in the PAD of NAIP are as under:

            1.         For Works – US $ 200,000 and above.

            2.         For Goods and Equipment - US $ 1 million and above in each case

            3.         For procurement of Goods & Equipment through Direct Contracting US $        50,000 and above in each case.

Post Review:

            Review of final concluded Contract(s) with checklist and supporting documentsfor all other cases.

Note:  Actual Threshold Limits will be as indicated in the Legal Agreement of the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP).

Appendix – 22

Criteria for Evaluation of Consultants