Central PSUs told to follow mandatory procurement guidelines

Odisha MSME department has asked the PSUs to stick to the guidelines

As the micro and small enterprises (MSEs) continue to struggle to find customers for their products and services, the state MSME department has urged the central government organisations and PSUs (public sector undertakings) to stick to the guidelines with regard to procurement from the MSEs.

The Public Procurement Policy for MSEs issued in 2012 mandated that all Central ministries/PSUs should procure minimum 20 per cent of their total annual purchases of the products or services from MSEs. From 2015, this policy going to be mandatory.

Going a step further, Odisha government has asked the Central PSUs operating in the state to earmark 10 per cent quota for the state-based micro and small enterprises from the overall 20 per cent component meant for procurement from MSEs. MSME Secretary Panchanan Dash has written a letter in this regard to East Coast Railways (ECoR), National Aluminum Company(Nalco), Rourkela Steel Plant of Steel Authority of India(SAIL), NTPC, Talcher Super Thermal Power Station, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Mahanadi Coal Fields Limited and Indian Rare Earths Limited.

The department had asked the MSME Development Institute to collect the information on purchases made by the Central organisations and PSUs. While only MCL, NINL , NTPC (Kaniha), RSP and Nalco have furnished the data in this regard, others did not submit the required information. The data available shows that RSP and Nalco (Angul) have achieved the minimum of 20 per cent purchases from the MSEs before the target date and 10 per cent from the local MSE units. Though MCL has achieved over all 20 per cent purchase from the MSEs, the procurement from state-based units is only 6.5 per cent.  NINL has purchased five per cent from the local MSEs.

Hailing the move of the state government mandating the PSUs and other Central government units for  mandatory procurement from MSEs, Ramesh Mohapatra, President, Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry(UCCI) said, “They (PSUs and Central government organisations) must implement the guidelines for procuring goods and services from the MSEs in letter and spirit.”