Shed colonial mindset, govt departments must move to Indian standards in tenders: Piyush Goyal
Aug 23, 2022
New Delhi [India], August 23 : Government institutions and departments should seek specifications and standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) while floating tenders and the practice of using foreign standards must be curbed, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.
Addressing the DPIIT Conclave on preference to 'Make in India' in public procurement, Goyal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken about getting rid of the colonial mindset.
"We must have Indian standards in our tenders. Government is open to ideas in sectors that have huge potential for job generation," he said.
Talking about the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), the minister said that it is a nearly paperless office reflecting PM Modi's vision of transparency. We should be reflective of the country's development and open government, he said.
Our TRP in public procurement is, trust, reliability and prosperity, he said.
"We are very serious in our efforts to make GeM India, a corruption-free Government procurement process which encourages domestically made goods and services," he said.
Goyal urged states to come on board GeM India.
Government is keen to use Artificial Intelligence in GeM and seeks industry cooperation to that end.
"We must focus on quality production. The industry has to be competitive to give consumers good quality products at the right price. Urge industry to help Government create transparent systems. The government is working to reduce compliance burdens," the minister said.
Goyal further added, "It is a collective commitment of the nation that we must emerge as a developed country. Manufacturing will have a very important role to play to make that happen. Government has an open mind to innovative ideas."
Everyone is working to improve the participation of our MSME sector in Government procurement. Prime Minister Modi's 'Panch Pran' should help us become a developed country by 2047. It is a collective commitment of the nation that we must emerge as a developed country, he added.
