Centre eases public procurement rules for Covid supplies

The government on Friday said it has temporarily done away with the mandatory local content requirement norms for public procurement of Covid supplies.

The commerce and industry ministry said the exemption would be applicable till September 30.

"The government has exempted the public procurement of supplies required for containment of Covid-19 global pandemic from the applicability of Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017," the ministry said in a statement.

The government issued Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order on June 15, 2017 to promote domestic production of goods and services and enhance income and employment in the country.

The order aimed at incentivising production linked through local content requirements to encourage domestic manufacturers' participation in public procurement activities over entities merely importing to trade or assemble items.