Odisha govt to frame IT procurement guidelines to help local units

With local units complaining about the methods adopted by various government agencies for procurement of IT (information technology) and ITes (enabled services) products, the state government is in the process of finalising a separate IT procurement procedure to help the local enterprises in bagging the orders.

"For IT related services we are trying to have a separate procurement procedure that will address the problems of the local entrepreneurs," said chief secretary, GC Pati at an open house discussion on the problems of MSMEs organised on the occasion of 11th Entrepreneurs Week.

Pati was replying to the problems raised by the IT Association of Odisha.

Officials said, the state IT department has roped in IT services company, Accenture and MAIT, an apex body representing the computer hardware, training and software industries to finalise the procurement procedures.

In the ICT Policy, local enterprises are entitled to a purchase preference for IT services and solutions being procured by the state government, public sector undertakings, government agencies and local bodies. The units, as per the policy, will be allowed to participate in tenders in joint venture or consortium form. The consortiums formed in line with the guidelines of the ICT policy should be allowed to participate in the tender, otherwise large industries would bag the orders leaving the local units in dire strait, said Anil Kumar Choudhury, former president, ITAO. "Presently, the departments are adopting different guidelines for procurement of IT/ITes products. There is no uniformity in guidelines for procurement," complained an ITAO official.

The formulation of procurement policy is likely to give a boost to the local entrepreneurs, as every government department is mandated to earmark two per cent of their annual budget or one per cent of their overall budget (whichever is higher) for IT spending to provide public services through electronic mode. Pati directed the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) to identify 150 acres of land at Paradip to start a wood based park initially. Speaking on the occasion, the industry associations aired their difficulties faced by the MSME units in the state.

Delay in issue of no objection certificates (NOCs) by Idco, non-availability of bank finances, difficulties in marketing were the common problems faced by the MSME entrepreneurs in the state.