The government has amended the general financial rules for departmental procurement below Rs 200 crore without a global tender. However, this is unlikely to benefit the micro, small and medium enterprises significantly.

According to the notice issued by the ministry of finance, department of expenditure, the government will not float global tenders below Rs 200 crore. Only in cases of exceptional circumstances can a global tender below Rs 200 crore be floated, for which written permission will have to be sought.

“There is a specific mention of preferential treatment meted out to MSMEs in the rules. The tenders below Rs 200 crore would be open to all the firms, including subsidiaries of the global firms, and the MSMEs would have to compete with them,” said Anil Bhardwaj, secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

“We would request the government to give preference to domestic MSMEs instead of subsidiaries of global firms to promote Make in India. China gives similar preference, which helps MSMEs in that country to grow.”

“We will seek clarity on whether Indian traders and Indian representatives of foreign companies will be eligible or kept away from participation. If the thrust is on Indian products then is there is a workable methodology or protocol in place for technology partnerships to allow Indian companies to manufacture the same in India,” Kenny Ramanand, national secretary of the All India Manufacturers Organisation (AIMO), said.

K.E. Raghunathan, former president of AIMO, said: “The finance minister said about 50 lakh MSMEs will benefit from the package and other announcements. The total number of MSMEs operating in India is in excess of six crores and the present package will not even cover 8 per cent of the total number of MSMEs. Is there another package for our sector?”