Six matters are settled during the need-assessment stage, each feeding into the indent:

Need assessment settles six questions before a tender is floated:

1. Description — what is needed, by generic description and not by brand name.
2. Method — whether to own, lease, hire, or buy it as a service.
3. Quantity — how much, in the proper unit of measure.
4. Time & Place — when and where it is required, planned well in advance.
5. Specifications — the technical specification (covered in 2.2).
6. Cost Estimate — a realistic, objective estimate of value.

The estimated cost is vital for approvals and for judging the reasonableness of bid prices, so it must be worked out realistically and objectively. The methods are neither mandatory nor ranked — triangulating several gives a more accurate estimate. Which one fits depends on what data exists:

A realistic estimate is built, in order of preference, from: market price discovery; the Last Purchase Price updated for quantity, time and terms; budgetary or catalogue rates; and, failing these, indices and a professional estimate.

Specifications are the benchmarks against which technical responsiveness is verified and bids evaluated (Rule 173(ix), GFR 2017). Well-defined TS help bidders prepare responsive bids and the entity compare them, and they safeguard quality. A good specification must:

1. Ensure a level playing field and the widest competition; be unambiguous, precise, objective, functional, broad-based/generic, standardised and measurable.
2. Cover only the bare essential technical, qualitative and performance characteristics — no superfluous features causing unwarranted expenditure.
3. Rest on BIS standards where they exist (preference to BIS-marked goods); international standards only in their absence, with deviations recorded in writing.
4. Use metric units for all dimensions (FPS equivalents shown only if unavoidable).
5. Require new, unused, current models incorporating recent design and material improvements — avoiding obsolete goods, unless otherwise provided.

Specifications should comply with sustainability criteria and pollution-control rules, prefer low-impact packaging, and may require the Ecomark Label under the Ecomark Certification Rules, 2023 — supporting the principle of LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment). Energy efficiency is signalled by the BEE star system:

After the indent, the procuring entity makes the decisions that turn a need into a tender. Three numbers anchor the discipline:

1. Reassess quantity & packaging/slicing. Division is allowed only for reasons recorded in writing — efficiency, economy, timely supply, wider competition or MSE access.
2. Declare any participation limits as per the Government's preference policy; lay down only reasonable, justifiable eligibility/pre-qualification criteria.
3. Select the tendering system (single/two stage, single/two bid) and the mode of procurement (open / limited / single tender, reverse auction).
4. Declare timeframes for each stage from tender to contract (Rule 144(ix)), and prepare an integrated annual procurement plan staggering loads across the year.

Need assessment and procurement planning is the main stage at which cartel formation can be addressed — by widening the field and varying the pattern bidders rely on:

Large procurements need market research before rules are applied — the parameters worth studying are production capacity vs demand, the volume of the requirement relative to the market (would clubbing raise bargaining power?), the level of competition and cartelisation, supply-chain constraints (raw materials, logistics, geopolitics), specification variations, and pricing trends/seasonality.

Public procurement is prone to corruption and ethical risk, so both procuring officials and bidders/suppliers must observe the highest standard of ethics (Rule 175, GFR 2017). Officials sign periodic declarations; bidders declare adherence in registration and tender documents, with a warning of punitive action. The code forbids seven prohibited practices:

1. Corrupt practice — offering, giving or accepting any gratification, gift or reward to influence an official act.
2. Fraudulent practice — any misrepresentation or omission of facts to influence a process or contract.
3. Anti-competitive practice — collusion, bid-rigging or any arrangement among bidders under the Competition Act, 2002.
4. Coercive practice — harming or threatening persons or property to influence participation or conduct.
5. Conflict of interest — a bidder's interest that conflicts with fair performance of the contract.
6. Undue advantage — taking improper benefit of leaked or privileged information.
7. Obstructive practice — concealing or destroying evidence, or impeding an inquiry, inspection or audit.

Punitive provisions escalate with how far the contract has progressed:

The Pre-bid Integrity Pact binds both buyer and sellers to ethical conduct and transparency across the whole contract — removing a bidder's fear that, while it abjures bribery, a competitor may bribe and win. Ministries incorporate it (with the Minister-in-charge's approval) for procurements above a chosen threshold.

Tender documents must carry a grievance-redressal clause. Only a directly affected bidder who participated in the relevant stage can represent — and only on the stage they qualified in.

Several decisions are taken in good faith under internal guidelines and are not open to review: the determination of need; the choice of mode of procurement or tendering system; the choice of selection procedure; specifications (except where vague or too restrictive); participation limits and purchase-preference under Government policy; the decision to negotiate with L1; and cancellation of the process (unless it will be re-tendered). Contract-ambiguity issues must be raised before the contract is signed.

These three shortlisting devices differ in rigour and purpose (Rule 150, GFR 2017):

Registration is granted for specific trade groups, valid one to three years (provisional until the firm satisfactorily executes one order), with a unique registration number and EMD exemption within prescribed monetary limits. Registration grades by order value:

Eligibility to bid depends on integrity and performance. Debarment ("banning", "suspension", "black-listing" all mean the same) follows two tracks under the GFR and the PPD guidelines — always after a reasonable opportunity to represent:

Indian agents who wish to quote directly on behalf of foreign principals may be enlisted by Ministries/Departments where required (Rule 152, GFR 2017) — section 3.8.

All modes fall into five families, arranged from the widest competition to single source:

1. Advertised (Rule 161) — OTE, GTE, Rate Contract and electronic Reverse Auction.
2. Pre-Qualification — Pre-Qualification Bidding and the Approved Vendor List.
3. Restricted (Rule 162) — Limited Tender (LTE) and Special LTE.
4. Nomination (Rule 166) — Proprietary Article Certificate (PAC) and Single Tender Enquiry — single source.
5. Shopping (Rules 154–155) — direct purchase and the Purchase Committee.

For routine goods, the mode is driven largely by value. The thresholds form a ladder from petty purchase to open tender:

Where competition is impossible or uneconomic, procurement is from a single source or by simple shopping (Rules 154, 155, 166):

For any procurement outside GeM under the shopping modes, the buyer must first generate a "GeM Availability Report & Past Transaction Summary" (GeMAR&PTS) with a unique ID on the GeM portal.

Procurement runs through manual bids, e-procurement platforms or GeM — but receiving bids through e-procurement portals is mandatory (mixing electronic and manual bids is poor practice). On GeM, the direct-purchase route depends on value:

Where an item is available on GeM, it cannot be bought of the same specification outside GeM (subject to the GeMAR&PTS check).

Under Rule 168 a tender document is built from eight ordered sections, followed by the financial bid and the forms:

1. Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) and the Tender Information Sheet.
2. Instructions to Bidders (ITB).
3. Appendix to ITB (AITB).
4. General Conditions of Contract (GCC).
5. Special Conditions of Contract (SCC).
6. Schedule of Requirements.
7. Technical Specifications and Quality Assurance.
8. Qualification and Evaluation Criteria.

The criteria in the tender document act as three successive filters, each narrowing the field; no criterion that cannot be verified may be used, and any criterion not stated in the tender cannot later be applied.

Bids are uploaded by the deadline (server clock is the reference); no manual bids are accepted in e-procurement. A bid valid for a shorter period than required is rejected as non-responsive. Bid security (or a permitted Bid Securing Declaration) must accompany the bid.

A Bid Securing Declaration (BSD) may replace bid security (with CA approval): withdrawing/modifying the bid, or failing to furnish performance security or sign the contract, is treated as a breach of the Code of Integrity and the bidder is suspended. MSEs and DPIIT-recognised start-ups are exempt from EMD.

An Insurance Surety Bond (ISB) is a three-cornered assurance: the principal (the contractor/supplier) obtains the bond from a surety insurer (an insurance company), which assures performance to the beneficiary (the procuring entity). It is premium-based and needs no collateral; if the principal does not pay within 14 days of a valid claim, the surety pays the beneficiary within 45 calendar days.

Ordinarily payment follows supply; advance payment is exceptional — justified where a contractor must sink substantial funds before payment falls due, given the Government's lower cost of funds. It is anticipated at the planning stage and declared in the tender document.

Advances are normally interest-free only where the tender so provided; otherwise a suitable interest rate (e.g. the GPF rate) applies. Milestone / stage / part-payments against proof of dispatch are not treated as advances (Rule 172(2)).

For contracts with significant foreign-exchange content and a delivery period exceeding one year, an Exchange Rate Variation (ERV) clause works out variation from a stated base date. Imports are commonly paid through a Letter of Credit (governed by UCP 600).

Below the direct-acceptance threshold in the SoPP, the competent authority may evaluate directly without a Tender Committee. Above it, the Tender Committee runs the evaluation through successive gates:

Evaluation runs through four gates before award: preliminary examination (responsiveness) → qualification (capability) → financial evaluation (determining L1) → award. Bids found unresponsive or unqualified drop out at the relevant gate.

Only substantively responsive bids — complete and conforming to the tender's essential terms without substantive deviation — proceed. Among the grounds on which a bid is ignored as unresponsive:

1. Not in the prescribed format, or unsigned as required.
2. EMD not provided, or exemption claimed without acceptable proof.
3. Bidder not eligible per the eligibility criteria (including conflict of interest / CIPP).
4. Quoted goods of another manufacturer without the required authority letter.
5. Departs from essential requirements (e.g. refuses to give performance security), or has not quoted for the entire schedule.
6. Conditional, multiple or alternative bids where not expressly permitted; or bid validity shorter than required.

Where figures and words (or copies) disagree, fixed rules decide what prevails:

A deviation, reservation or omission is either substantive (reject) or minor (may be condoned):

Every Tender Committee recommendation must declare the price reasonable, judged mainly against the Last Purchase Price (LPP) updated for quantity, delivery and terms (triangulating more than one method). An abnormally low bid (ALB) may be probed for the bidder's capability to deliver, and rejected if unconvincing.

For an operational emergency the suggested modes, fastest first, are: GeM portal → direct purchase without quotation → Purchase Committee → SLTE / LTE / STE with reduced bid time.

Capital goods (machinery & plant, IT systems) create lasting assets and carry a long life — so their acquisition is an investment decision against an item-specific budget. What you pay to buy is only the visible tip of the cost:

Beneath the visible purchase price lie the larger lifetime costs: installation & commissioning, operation (power and consumables), maintenance & AMC, spares & training, and disposal at the end of life — together the Total Cost of Ownership.

1. Alternatives to owning — hire, hire-purchase, lease, or buying the functionality "as a service" (useful where equipment, e.g. IT, ages fast).
2. Bundled elements — installation, commissioning, training, trials, warranty, post-warranty maintenance and assured spares; 2-year initial spares may be required.
3. Turnkey — where several machines/components and third-party works act in tandem, an all-encompassing turnkey contract (manufacture → install → commission) may be better (8.6).
4. Pre-qualification fit — experience, capacity and financial strength drive quality and after-sales support, so capital goods suit pre-qualification bidding.

Minor short/excess deliveries in the final consignment are unavoidable and may be treated as completion within a tolerance, without a formal amendment. Where the requirement changes, a plus/minus option clause adjusts quantity:

The delivery period is the "essence of the contract" and must be realistic; vague phrases like "immediately" are not legally binding. For staggered supply, slight monthly deviation is tolerated — ±5% cumulative in a year (±5% in a month / ±7% per quarter) is not a violation and attracts no LD. Where delivery slips, Liquidated Damages accrue:

On default the procuring entity may, without prejudice to other rights, recover LD, encash the performance security, terminate for default, or undertake a risk purchase — re-procuring the goods at the defaulting contractor's risk and cost. Warranty failure attracts a penalty up to 5% of contract value over the warranty period. Termination may also be for convenience or under force majeure.

Disputes should be settled at the lowest, least adversarial level possible, escalating only if that fails:

1. Amicable settlement / Mediation — guided by the Mediation Act, 2023; the process must normally be completed within 120 days.
2. Conciliation — under Part III of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996.
3. Arbitration — under the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996; the arbitrator is appointed within 60 days of a valid demand, and the seat of arbitration is the place from which the Letter of Award / contract was issued.
4. Courts — only where the routes above do not resolve the dispute.

Items are sorted into trade groups (e.g. for melting, re-rolling) — segregated and sorted scrap fetches better value and helps fix reserve prices. Before anything is sold as scrap, a Survey Committee appointed by the Head of Office must declare it so, recording why it is surplus, obsolete or unserviceable.

The mode of disposal is driven by value: petty sale to local dealers for small/petty scrap; a limited tender to local scrap dealers for Rs 15,000 – Rs 4 lakh; and e-Auction (preferred, via NIC / MSTC / Railways) for scrap above Rs 4 lakh.

Disposal must comply with environmental law depending on the material:

Six matters are settled during the need-assessment stage, each feeding into the indent:

Need assessment settles six questions before a tender is floated:

1. Description — what is needed, by generic description and not by brand name.
2. Method — whether to own, lease, hire, or buy it as a service.
3. Quantity — how much, in the proper unit of measure.
4. Time & Place — when and where it is required, planned well in advance.
5. Specifications — the technical specification (covered in 2.2).
6. Cost Estimate — a realistic, objective estimate of value.

The estimated cost is vital for approvals and for judging the reasonableness of bid prices, so it must be worked out realistically and objectively. The methods are neither mandatory nor ranked — triangulating several gives a more accurate estimate. Which one fits depends on what data exists:

A realistic estimate is built, in order of preference, from: market price discovery; the Last Purchase Price updated for quantity, time and terms; budgetary or catalogue rates; and, failing these, indices and a professional estimate.

Specifications are the benchmarks against which technical responsiveness is verified and bids evaluated (Rule 173(ix), GFR 2017). Well-defined TS help bidders prepare responsive bids and the entity compare them, and they safeguard quality. A good specification must:

1. Ensure a level playing field and the widest competition; be unambiguous, precise, objective, functional, broad-based/generic, standardised and measurable.
2. Cover only the bare essential technical, qualitative and performance characteristics — no superfluous features causing unwarranted expenditure.
3. Rest on BIS standards where they exist (preference to BIS-marked goods); international standards only in their absence, with deviations recorded in writing.
4. Use metric units for all dimensions (FPS equivalents shown only if unavoidable).
5. Require new, unused, current models incorporating recent design and material improvements — avoiding obsolete goods, unless otherwise provided.

Specifications should comply with sustainability criteria and pollution-control rules, prefer low-impact packaging, and may require the Ecomark Label under the Ecomark Certification Rules, 2023 — supporting the principle of LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment). Energy efficiency is signalled by the BEE star system:

After the indent, the procuring entity makes the decisions that turn a need into a tender. Three numbers anchor the discipline:

1. Reassess quantity & packaging/slicing. Division is allowed only for reasons recorded in writing — efficiency, economy, timely supply, wider competition or MSE access.
2. Declare any participation limits as per the Government's preference policy; lay down only reasonable, justifiable eligibility/pre-qualification criteria.
3. Select the tendering system (single/two stage, single/two bid) and the mode of procurement (open / limited / single tender, reverse auction).
4. Declare timeframes for each stage from tender to contract (Rule 144(ix)), and prepare an integrated annual procurement plan staggering loads across the year.

Need assessment and procurement planning is the main stage at which cartel formation can be addressed — by widening the field and varying the pattern bidders rely on:

Large procurements need market research before rules are applied — the parameters worth studying are production capacity vs demand, the volume of the requirement relative to the market (would clubbing raise bargaining power?), the level of competition and cartelisation, supply-chain constraints (raw materials, logistics, geopolitics), specification variations, and pricing trends/seasonality.

Public procurement is prone to corruption and ethical risk, so both procuring officials and bidders/suppliers must observe the highest standard of ethics (Rule 175, GFR 2017). Officials sign periodic declarations; bidders declare adherence in registration and tender documents, with a warning of punitive action. The code forbids seven prohibited practices:

1. Corrupt practice — offering, giving or accepting any gratification, gift or reward to influence an official act.
2. Fraudulent practice — any misrepresentation or omission of facts to influence a process or contract.
3. Anti-competitive practice — collusion, bid-rigging or any arrangement among bidders under the Competition Act, 2002.
4. Coercive practice — harming or threatening persons or property to influence participation or conduct.
5. Conflict of interest — a bidder's interest that conflicts with fair performance of the contract.
6. Undue advantage — taking improper benefit of leaked or privileged information.
7. Obstructive practice — concealing or destroying evidence, or impeding an inquiry, inspection or audit.

Punitive provisions escalate with how far the contract has progressed:

The Pre-bid Integrity Pact binds both buyer and sellers to ethical conduct and transparency across the whole contract — removing a bidder's fear that, while it abjures bribery, a competitor may bribe and win. Ministries incorporate it (with the Minister-in-charge's approval) for procurements above a chosen threshold.

Tender documents must carry a grievance-redressal clause. Only a directly affected bidder who participated in the relevant stage can represent — and only on the stage they qualified in.

Several decisions are taken in good faith under internal guidelines and are not open to review: the determination of need; the choice of mode of procurement or tendering system; the choice of selection procedure; specifications (except where vague or too restrictive); participation limits and purchase-preference under Government policy; the decision to negotiate with L1; and cancellation of the process (unless it will be re-tendered). Contract-ambiguity issues must be raised before the contract is signed.

These three shortlisting devices differ in rigour and purpose (Rule 150, GFR 2017):

Registration is granted for specific trade groups, valid one to three years (provisional until the firm satisfactorily executes one order), with a unique registration number and EMD exemption within prescribed monetary limits. Registration grades by order value:

Eligibility to bid depends on integrity and performance. Debarment ("banning", "suspension", "black-listing" all mean the same) follows two tracks under the GFR and the PPD guidelines — always after a reasonable opportunity to represent:

Indian agents who wish to quote directly on behalf of foreign principals may be enlisted by Ministries/Departments where required (Rule 152, GFR 2017) — section 3.8.

All modes fall into five families, arranged from the widest competition to single source:

1. Advertised (Rule 161) — OTE, GTE, Rate Contract and electronic Reverse Auction.
2. Pre-Qualification — Pre-Qualification Bidding and the Approved Vendor List.
3. Restricted (Rule 162) — Limited Tender (LTE) and Special LTE.
4. Nomination (Rule 166) — Proprietary Article Certificate (PAC) and Single Tender Enquiry — single source.
5. Shopping (Rules 154–155) — direct purchase and the Purchase Committee.

For routine goods, the mode is driven largely by value. The thresholds form a ladder from petty purchase to open tender:

Where competition is impossible or uneconomic, procurement is from a single source or by simple shopping (Rules 154, 155, 166):

For any procurement outside GeM under the shopping modes, the buyer must first generate a "GeM Availability Report & Past Transaction Summary" (GeMAR&PTS) with a unique ID on the GeM portal.

Procurement runs through manual bids, e-procurement platforms or GeM — but receiving bids through e-procurement portals is mandatory (mixing electronic and manual bids is poor practice). On GeM, the direct-purchase route depends on value:

Where an item is available on GeM, it cannot be bought of the same specification outside GeM (subject to the GeMAR&PTS check).

Under Rule 168 a tender document is built from eight ordered sections, followed by the financial bid and the forms:

1. Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) and the Tender Information Sheet.
2. Instructions to Bidders (ITB).
3. Appendix to ITB (AITB).
4. General Conditions of Contract (GCC).
5. Special Conditions of Contract (SCC).
6. Schedule of Requirements.
7. Technical Specifications and Quality Assurance.
8. Qualification and Evaluation Criteria.

The criteria in the tender document act as three successive filters, each narrowing the field; no criterion that cannot be verified may be used, and any criterion not stated in the tender cannot later be applied.

Bids are uploaded by the deadline (server clock is the reference); no manual bids are accepted in e-procurement. A bid valid for a shorter period than required is rejected as non-responsive. Bid security (or a permitted Bid Securing Declaration) must accompany the bid.

A Bid Securing Declaration (BSD) may replace bid security (with CA approval): withdrawing/modifying the bid, or failing to furnish performance security or sign the contract, is treated as a breach of the Code of Integrity and the bidder is suspended. MSEs and DPIIT-recognised start-ups are exempt from EMD.

An Insurance Surety Bond (ISB) is a three-cornered assurance: the principal (the contractor/supplier) obtains the bond from a surety insurer (an insurance company), which assures performance to the beneficiary (the procuring entity). It is premium-based and needs no collateral; if the principal does not pay within 14 days of a valid claim, the surety pays the beneficiary within 45 calendar days.

Ordinarily payment follows supply; advance payment is exceptional — justified where a contractor must sink substantial funds before payment falls due, given the Government's lower cost of funds. It is anticipated at the planning stage and declared in the tender document.

Advances are normally interest-free only where the tender so provided; otherwise a suitable interest rate (e.g. the GPF rate) applies. Milestone / stage / part-payments against proof of dispatch are not treated as advances (Rule 172(2)).

For contracts with significant foreign-exchange content and a delivery period exceeding one year, an Exchange Rate Variation (ERV) clause works out variation from a stated base date. Imports are commonly paid through a Letter of Credit (governed by UCP 600).

Below the direct-acceptance threshold in the SoPP, the competent authority may evaluate directly without a Tender Committee. Above it, the Tender Committee runs the evaluation through successive gates:

Evaluation runs through four gates before award: preliminary examination (responsiveness) → qualification (capability) → financial evaluation (determining L1) → award. Bids found unresponsive or unqualified drop out at the relevant gate.

Only substantively responsive bids — complete and conforming to the tender's essential terms without substantive deviation — proceed. Among the grounds on which a bid is ignored as unresponsive:

1. Not in the prescribed format, or unsigned as required.
2. EMD not provided, or exemption claimed without acceptable proof.
3. Bidder not eligible per the eligibility criteria (including conflict of interest / CIPP).
4. Quoted goods of another manufacturer without the required authority letter.
5. Departs from essential requirements (e.g. refuses to give performance security), or has not quoted for the entire schedule.
6. Conditional, multiple or alternative bids where not expressly permitted; or bid validity shorter than required.

Where figures and words (or copies) disagree, fixed rules decide what prevails:

A deviation, reservation or omission is either substantive (reject) or minor (may be condoned):

Every Tender Committee recommendation must declare the price reasonable, judged mainly against the Last Purchase Price (LPP) updated for quantity, delivery and terms (triangulating more than one method). An abnormally low bid (ALB) may be probed for the bidder's capability to deliver, and rejected if unconvincing.

For an operational emergency the suggested modes, fastest first, are: GeM portal → direct purchase without quotation → Purchase Committee → SLTE / LTE / STE with reduced bid time.

Capital goods (machinery & plant, IT systems) create lasting assets and carry a long life — so their acquisition is an investment decision against an item-specific budget. What you pay to buy is only the visible tip of the cost:

Beneath the visible purchase price lie the larger lifetime costs: installation & commissioning, operation (power and consumables), maintenance & AMC, spares & training, and disposal at the end of life — together the Total Cost of Ownership.

1. Alternatives to owning — hire, hire-purchase, lease, or buying the functionality "as a service" (useful where equipment, e.g. IT, ages fast).
2. Bundled elements — installation, commissioning, training, trials, warranty, post-warranty maintenance and assured spares; 2-year initial spares may be required.
3. Turnkey — where several machines/components and third-party works act in tandem, an all-encompassing turnkey contract (manufacture → install → commission) may be better (8.6).
4. Pre-qualification fit — experience, capacity and financial strength drive quality and after-sales support, so capital goods suit pre-qualification bidding.

Minor short/excess deliveries in the final consignment are unavoidable and may be treated as completion within a tolerance, without a formal amendment. Where the requirement changes, a plus/minus option clause adjusts quantity:

The delivery period is the "essence of the contract" and must be realistic; vague phrases like "immediately" are not legally binding. For staggered supply, slight monthly deviation is tolerated — ±5% cumulative in a year (±5% in a month / ±7% per quarter) is not a violation and attracts no LD. Where delivery slips, Liquidated Damages accrue:

On default the procuring entity may, without prejudice to other rights, recover LD, encash the performance security, terminate for default, or undertake a risk purchase — re-procuring the goods at the defaulting contractor's risk and cost. Warranty failure attracts a penalty up to 5% of contract value over the warranty period. Termination may also be for convenience or under force majeure.

Disputes should be settled at the lowest, least adversarial level possible, escalating only if that fails:

1. Amicable settlement / Mediation — guided by the Mediation Act, 2023; the process must normally be completed within 120 days.
2. Conciliation — under Part III of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996.
3. Arbitration — under the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996; the arbitrator is appointed within 60 days of a valid demand, and the seat of arbitration is the place from which the Letter of Award / contract was issued.
4. Courts — only where the routes above do not resolve the dispute.

Items are sorted into trade groups (e.g. for melting, re-rolling) — segregated and sorted scrap fetches better value and helps fix reserve prices. Before anything is sold as scrap, a Survey Committee appointed by the Head of Office must declare it so, recording why it is surplus, obsolete or unserviceable.

The mode of disposal is driven by value: petty sale to local dealers for small/petty scrap; a limited tender to local scrap dealers for Rs 15,000 – Rs 4 lakh; and e-Auction (preferred, via NIC / MSTC / Railways) for scrap above Rs 4 lakh.

Disposal must comply with environmental law depending on the material: