CHAPTER

III 

PURCHASE
OF STORES : POLICY AND RULES PURCHASE POLICY

301.   
Sources of Supply.—There are four sources of supply or receipt of
materials required by Railways :— 

(a)  
Purchases, 

(b)  
Manufactured by Railway Workshop, 

(c) 
Returned Stores ; and 

(d)  
Transfer of Stores from other Railways or departments. 

Of
these, the purchase of stores is the most important and this chapter deals
with the rules prescribed for the
purchase of stores, (other than printing
and stationery stores). The rules are in accordance with the policy of the
Government of India to make their purchases of stores for the Public
Service in such a way as to encourage the
development of the industries of
the country to the utmost possible extent, consistent with economy and
efficiency. 

302.   
Order of Preference.—In making purchases, preference will be
given in the following order :— 

Firstly,
to articles which arc produced in India in the form of raw materials, or
are manufactured in India from raw
materials produced in India, provided
that the quality is sufficiently good for the purpose; 

Secondly,
to articles wholly or partially manufactured in India from imported
material provided that the quality is
sufficiently good for the purpose; 

Thirdly,
to articles of foreign manufacture held stock in India provided that they
are of suitable type and requisite
quality; 

Fourthly,
to articles manufactured abroad which need to be specially imported. 

303.   
Quality.—In the case of the first two categories mentioned in
paragraph 302 above the condition is that the
quality is sufficiently good
for the purpose, and for the third category the condition is that the
articles arc of suitable
type and requisite quality. This means that
articles coming under the first two categories should be accepted unless
it is considered that the quality is definitely not up to the standard
required, even though the imported articles may
be considered to be of
better quality. 

304.    DELETED 
(Authority – Ministry of Railways

(Railway Board’s) letter No. 95 /RS (G) / 768 dt 17.08.1995 conveying Ministry of Finance S.O.M No. F. 23 (2) –
E.II(A)/92 dt. 24.6.92)--acs no.3  page no.58

304. 
(A).  Price Preference to Products of Small Scale Industries: - For this purpose, Railway purchases for
the items of stores other than textile items reserved for purchase from Handloom Sector, may be categorised under
2 broad heads:-
 
(i)       Those reserved for exclusive purchase from KVIC/Women’s Development Corporations/Small Scale Sectors
Units.
 
(a)      At present 409 items are reserved for exclusive purchase from KVIC/Womens’s Development
Corporations/Small Scale Sectors Units.
 
(b)      Items falling under this category shall be subject to revision from time to time by Railway Board, as per
guidelines issued by Department of Supply, Government of India.
 
(ii)      Others not so reserved.
 
(Authority: Railway Board’s letter No. 98/RS(G)/779/10(CS) dated 30.05.2000 --acs no.11 page no.59

304(B).
Preference to Products of  Public Sector Undertakings.—Purchase
/ Price preference to products of
Public Sector Undertakings is given as
per the directives issued by Govt. of India from time to time ( Public
Sector
Undertakings here means companies where not less than 51%
of the paid up share capital is held by the Central or
State Govt.)
Authority:- Board's letter No. 92/RS (G)/565/1/PEs dt. 23.06.1992 conveying Ministry of Industry, Bureau of Public
Enterprises O.M.No. DPE/13 (19)/ 91-Fin. dt. 07.05.1992 and Board's letter No. 92/RS (G)/ 363 /1/ PEs dt.
17.12.97 conveying Ministry of Industry, Bureau of Public Enter-prises O.M.No. DPE/l3 (19) /91-Fin. dt.31.10.1997.-
--acs no.2 page no.59

305.   
Currency of payment.—All articles required to be purchased for
Indian Railways, except those which need to
be specially imported, should
be purchased on the condition that delivery is made in India for payment
in rupees in
India.  For
articles needing import, the payment should be in the currency of the
country of origin of the article
imported or a currency widely used in
international trade, except for expenditure incurred in India including
agency
commission, if any, which should be paid for in Indian Currency. 

306.   
Deleted. 

307.   
Payment.—Except in special cases, full payment for stores should
not be made against shipping or other
despatch documents, but only after
delivery of stores has been taken by the Receiving Officer and stores are
found
to be satisfactory in all respects. Should the firms insist, advance
payment, within limits specified by the Railway
Board, may be made to
firms of repute and commercial standing against shipping documents or a
Railway Receipt
provided the stores have been inspected by the purchaser's
nominee prior to the despatch and found satisfactory in
all respects and
documentary evidence of such inspection is produced while claiming
payment.    Where in
an
exceptional case involving import, such inspection prior to despatch is
not possible, payment against shipping
documents shall be made in
consultation with Financial Adviser and Chief Accounts Officer and after
obtaining a
bank guarantee for the amount of payment. 

308.    
In order to obtain adequate publicity and so ensure economic
purchase, tenders should be invited in India
and abroad also, if
considered necessary or desirable to do so, for supply of all articles
unless the value of order to
be placed is small, or sufficient reasons to
be recorded exist which indicate that it is not in public interest to call
for
tenders. 

309.   
Powers of General Managers.—Subject to guidelines issued by the
Railway Board from time to time and issue
of indigenous clearance by the
appropriate authority, the discretion to invite tenders from abroad will
rest in the
General Manager. 

310.   
Publicity.—Tenders should be invited from abroad as well as in
India, wherever it is considered necessary or
desirable to do so in order
to obtain adequate publicity and so ensure economic purchase. The Indian
Trades Journal
published by the Director General of Commercial
Intelligence and Statistics, which is a government publication,
should be
regarded as the standard medium for public advertisements in India.  
Advertisements should also be
inserted in the principal newspapers
in India at the discretion of the Purchasing Officer. 

In
the case tenders are invited from abroad, agencies of the Indian Embassies
abroad may be utilised for giving
additional publicity to the tender.
Sufficient supply of tender documents, specifications and drawings should
be sent
to them for sale to intending tenderers. Tender Notices may also
be sent to local Embassies or Trade Commissioners
of countries likely to
be interested in supply of stores tendered. The tenderers will normally be
instructed to submit
their tenders direct to the General Manager/ the
Controller of Stores concerned in India. 

Barring
exceptional circumstances, sufficient time as required by circumstances of
each case should be given for
submission of tenders. Where purchases are
to be financed through foreign loans or bilateral agreements, the terms
and conditions relating to the loan or agreement should be given due
consideration while inviting the tenders. 

311.    
If the response to any invitation to tender is poor owing to
inadequate publicity or some other reason, fresh
tenders should be invited
and measures taken to bring the invitation to tender to the special notice
of all likely
tenderers. 

312.   
Deleted. 

313.   
Deleted. 

314.   
Country of Manufacture.—Tenderers should be requested to furnish
information in regard to the country of
manufacture and/or origin of the
material used in the manufacture of the articles. 

315.   
Evaluation of offers involving payment in a foreign
currency.—Offers for imported articles, involving
payment in a foreign
currency shall, for the purpose of comparison, be converted into Indian
Currency at the official
rate of B.C. selling foreign exchange ruling on
the date of opening of the tender.

(Authority: Board's letter No. 92/F(FEX)1/1 dt.10.08.1994.)--acs no.4 page no.60

316.   
Place of Delivery.—When specifying the point or place of
delivery, endeavour shall be made to lay down
terms which give all
tenderers equal opportunities to put forward their lowest prices. Subject
to this, the purchase
officers may exercise full discretion regarding the
point or place of delivery for articles available in India. 
For articles
needing import, the contracts should be finalised on
F.O.B./ F.A.S. basis.  Where
circumstances or a case justify,
import on C.F.R., C.I.F., F.O.R. Indian
Port etc., may also be made subject to the terms and conditions laid down
by
the Government of India from time to time. 

316A.
Price preference for early delivery.—The following clause should be
invariably included in all tenders to enable
a higher quotation being
accepted for earlier delivery in preference to a lower quotation :— 

Clause
'A' 

"Special
Condition.—It should be noted that if a contract is placed on a higher
tenderer as a result of this invitation
to tender, in preference to the
lowest acceptable offer, in consideration of offer of earlier delivery,
the contractor will
be liable to pay to the Government the difference
between the contract rate and that of the lowest acceptable
tenderer on
the basis of final price, f.o.r. destination including all elements, of
Freight, Sales tax, Local taxes, duties
and other incidentals in case of
failure to complete supplies in terms of such contract within the date of
delivery
specified in the tender and incorporated in the contract.  
This is in addition and without prejudice to other rights
under the
terms of contracts". 

In
the acceptance of tender the following clause should be incorporated after
obtaining the specific acceptance of
the tenderer wherever necessary :— 

Clause
'B' 

"Special
Condition.—It should be noted that on the assurance of the earlier
delivery at the rate of
Rs...............................F.O.R..................................offered
by you this contract has been  placed
on you in
preference to the lowest acceptable offer
of....................................at the rate of
 Rs..............................................
F.O.R....................................................  
In case of failure to complete
supplies against this contract in terms hereof within the date of delivery
specified herein, you would be liable to pay
to Government the difference
between the contract rate and that of the lowest acceptable tenderer on
the basis of
final price F.O.R. destination including all elements of
Freight, Sales tax, Local taxes, Duties and other incidentals.
This is in
addition and without prejudice to the rights of the Government to recover
all other losses and damages
resulting from delayed supplies including the
right of cancellation and repurchase at your risk and expense". 

317.   
Indian Agents for tenderers abroad.—The tenderers abroad should
be required to specify if they have agents
in India and if so the extent
of authority delegated to such agents and the duties they are expected to
perform. 
They should also
indicate the commission payable to the Indian agents and whether they are
agreeable to payment
of the commission in Indian currency. 

318.   
Where tenders are invited for plant and equipment, in which the
erection of the plant at site is to be
undertaken by the successful
tenderer, appropriate terms in regard to delivery at site, erection,
testing and
commissioning should be included in the invitation to the
tender or in general specification and in the resulting
contract. 
In cases involving import, tenderers abroad should be required to
specify their agents in India, through
whom delivery will be arranged and
who will arrange for erection at site and for carrying out such tests on
completion as may be specified in the contract. 

319.    
Cost of tender forms.—No account adjustments will be made between
the Indian Missions abroad and the
purchasing departments in India on the
value of tender forms sent and issued on behalf of the purchasing
authorities in India and the expenditure on advertisement, postage
charges, etc. in the Missions aborad. 

320.   
Deleted. 

321.     
Deleted. 

322.     
Deleted. 

323.    
Classes of tenders.—The following are amongst the different
methods of obtaining tenders that may
be
adopted :— 

(1)  
By advertisement ("Open" Tender); 

(2)  
By direct invitation to a limited number of firms
("Limited" Tender); 

(3)  
By invitation to one firm only ("Single" Tender or
"Private" purchase). 

The
primary aim is to obtain the best value possible for the money spent, and
the tender system, in one form or
another, should be given very careful
and serious consideration in all cases as one of the most effective
methods for
keeping down rates. The exceptions made to the general rule
that tenders should be called for in all cases, arc
based only on
practical considerations in order to avoid delay and unnecessary work in
cases of comparatively small
value. 

324.     
The "OPEN" Tender System.—This system of invitation to tender by public advertisement in the most
open and public manner possible, should be used as a general rule and must be adopted, subject to the exceptions
noted in paragraphs 331 and 332 in all cases in which the estimated value of purchase is (i) over Rs. 10 lakh
in
normal circumstances, for procurement of items other than safety items (ii) over Rs. 2 Crore in cases of
emergencies and (iii)over Rs. 2 crores in cases of procurement of safety items and procurement of items
whose approved list of vendors is issued by centralised approving agency i.e. RDSO/PU/CORE etc."
 
(Authority Board's letter No. 98/RS(G)/779/10 Pt. I & 2008/RS(G)/779/9 dated 02.07.99 & 06-02-
2009) --acs no. 7 & 17---page no. 62

325.   
When tenders are invited by public advertisement, the issue of the
tender forms need not be restricted to
firms whose names are on the list
of approved contractors (see paragraph 329). 
Firms not on the list, should, on
enquiry, be informed that they
are at liberty, on payment of the prescribed fee, to tender for the
advertised
requirements. Firms which are not borne on the list of approved
contractors should be asked to furnish following
details along with their
quotation, in the prescribed proforma supplied to them with the tender
documents :— 

(a)  
Income tax clearance certificate,   
(b) the name and full address of their Bankers, (c)
particulars of their
previous performance regarding supply of stores
similar to those under purchase, (d)
details of equipments they
possess for manufacture of the stores including
quality control and (e) the details of technical staff employed by
them. 

When
a tender which p'rima facie appears to be satisfactory has been received
from an unknown firm, steps should
be taken before any order is placed to
ascertain whether the firm is capable of executing the contract in a
proper
manner. If the enquiries prove satisfactory the order, or a portion
of it, may be placed with the firm. If the order or
the portion thereof is
satisfactorily executed, the name of the firm should be added to the list
of approved
contractors. If, on the other hand, the enquiries prove
unsatisfactory in consequence of which the order is not
placed with the
firm, the result of the enquiries must invariably be recorded. 

326.   
Deleted. 

327.   
Deleted. 

328.   
The "Limited" Tender System.—Except in the case of procurement of safety items, in case of
procurement in emergency and in case of procurement of items whose approved list of vendor is issued
by centralised agency, this system may ordinarily be adopted when it is considered to be advantageous, in the
case of orders the estimated value of which does not exceed Rs. 10 lakh. In case of safety items, in case of
emergency and in case of items whose approved list of vendors is issued by centralised agency i.e.
Research Design Standards Organisation (RDSO)/ Production Units(PUs)/ Central Organisation for
Railway Electrification (CORE), this system may be adopted in the case of purchases, the estimated value of
which does not exceed Rs. 2 Crore.

(Authority Board's letter No. 98/RS(G)/779/10 Pt. I & 2008/RS(G)/779/9 dated 02.07.99 & 06-02-
2009) --acs no. 7 & 18 page no. 62

329.    
List of Approved Firms.—For the purpose of the
"Limited" tender and "Single" tender procedures, a
list of
firms, both Indian and Foreign, of known reliability, which have
been able to satisfy that they possess the necessary
equipment and
facilities for production of stores which they offer to supply, shall be
maintained.    The
list should be
subjected periodically to examination and revision to weed
out firms which have proved unreliable.   
Any application
from a new firm for inclusion in the list should be
considered on its receipt. Registration of firms as approved
suppliers
should be done carefully after assessing the capacity-cum-capability and
financial standing of the firm.  
If
need be, services of Research Design & Standards
Organisation, Lucknow, R.I.T.E.S., New Delhi or Inspection Wing
of DGS
& D may be utilised for this purpose. Monetary limit upto which
individual orders could be placed on a firm
should be carefully fixed
keeping in view, Bankers Report, capacity-cum-capability and other
financial information
contained in firms balance sheet, profit and loss
account etc.   And registration
should be done grading the firms
according to following
categories :— 

(a)       
Those firms capable of executing supply orders valuing Rs. 40 Lakhs and above.

(b)       
Those firms capable of executing supply orders valuing Rs. 10 Lakhs to Rs. 40 Lakhs.

(c)        
Those firms capable of executing supply orders valuing Rs. 5 Lakhs to Rs. 10 Lakhs.

(d)       
Those firms capable of executing supply orders valuing each above Rs. One Lakh upto Rs. 5
Lakhs.

(e)       
Those firms capable of executing supply orders valuing upto Rs. one Lakhs.

It has also been decided to revise the existing limits of Rs. 25,000/- and Rs.1 lakh    as    last   revised   from  
those    as    mentioned    under Recommendation Nos. 66 and 67 of the said committee to Rs. 1 Lakh and Rs.
5 Lakh, respectively.
 The firms that are registered for supply of orders valued above Rs. 1 Lakh should invariably be a
manufacturer or his authorised agent. The firms who are registered for executing supply orders valued above
Rs. 1 lakh should be pre-inspected by an appropriate officer for assessing capacity-cum -capability including
effective quality control. The registration should be treated as provisional, fill the firm satisfactorily executes
one order, but once the registration is confirmed, no discrimination may be made between new and old
registered firms. From this list of approved suppliers, names of the firms to be invited to tender, shall be
selected by all the purchase officers.

                    (Authority Board's letter No. 2008/RS(G)/779/9 dated 0 6-02-2009)--acs no. 19 page no.
62-63

Note
1.—Firms who are pre-inspected and considered fit for inclusion in
approved list for one Railway should be
considered for inclusion in the
approved list of other Railways as well. 

2.—
If for sufficient reasons, which should be recorded, it is decided to
issue limited tender enquiries to firms not on
the approved list, approval
of the next higher authority not below the rank of a Deputy Controller of
Stores shall be
obtained. At the same time such firms should be asked to
get themselves registered with the Railway following
prescribed
formalities. 

3.—
Limited tender enquiries should preferably be issued to a minimum of three
firms and the last successful
supplier should invariably be included. 

330.   
The "Single" Tender System.—This system may be adopted with regard to small orders not exceeding Rs.
3 lakhs in value in the case of non­proprietary articles (provided decision to adopt single tender system for articles
exceeding Rs. 5,000/- but less than Rs. 10,000/- in value is taken at a level not lower than a Junior Administrative
Grade Stores Officer) and Rs. 5 lakhs in case of proprietary articles (with PAC 'a' certificate) and articles in the
process of indigenous development subject to the rates quoted being reasonable.

In the event of an emergent situation affecting repair, maintenance, out turn, operation etc., which should be
recorded in writing, the purchase of non­proprietary articles may be made on single tender basis: -

(i)        Up to Rs. 5 lakh per item by Controller of Stores; and

(ii)       Up to Rs. 7,500/- per item by Divisional Railway Managers in consultation with Associated Finance.

There should be no re-delegation of powers of Divisional Railway Managers at (ii) above.

(Authority Board's letter No. 2008/RS(G)/779/9 dated 0 6-02-2009)--acs no. 20 page no. 63

331.    
Powers of General Managers to cover exceptional cases.—The
"Limited" tender system may be applied to
orders the estimated
value of which exceeds the limits specified in paragraph 324 & 328 and
the single tender
system may be applied to orders the estimated value of
which exceeds the limits specified in
paragraph 330 with
sanction of the General Manager and the concurrence of
FA & CAO subject to the following conditions :— 

(a)  
that sufficient reasons exist which indicate that it is not in the
public interest to call for tenders by
advertisements ; 

(b)  
that the demand is so urgent that any additional expenditure
involved by the elimination of open competition
must be incurred ; and 

(c)  
that in the case of the proprietary articles, the sanction of the
General Manager is necessary only if it is not
possible to certify that a
similar article is not manufactured or sold by any other firm which could
be used in lieu. 

In
each case a note should be recorded giving the reasons for authorising the
exception to general rule. 

Note.—
The Controllers of Stores are authorised to exercise General Manager's
Power under this paragraph to
purchase Steel Items on single tender basis
from Stock Yards/buffer imports of M/s. SAIL, TISCO, TISCO at main
producer's stock yard prices for the steel items as fixed by Joint Plant
Committee or the Government. 

332.   
The General Manager may also decide not to call for tenders of any
category in cases where sufficient
reasons exist to indicate that it is
not in the public interest to call for tenders. In all cases (except those
of works
contracts based on schedule rates in force on the railway, the
individual value of each of which is estimated not to
exceed Rs.
50,000/-), where the General Manager decides not to call for tenders, the
reasons shall be recorded and
communicated by the General Manager to his
Financial Adviser.    Should
the General Manager's power of decision
under this rule be delegated to a
lower authority (who will exercise it subject to the same proviso) and
should the
Financial Adviser consider the reasons adduced by such
authority to be insufficient or other than in the public
interest, he
shall represent his views to the authority concerned and, if necessary,
consult the General Manager. 
333.   
Deleted. 

334.   
Deleted. 

335.     
Deleted. 

336.   
Deleted. 

337.   
Deleted. 

338.   
Tender Notices shall state.—(a) The short particulars of stores
to be supplied or work to be done,
specifications, quantity etc. 

(b) 
Where and when the tender documents can be seen and obtained also
the amount, if any, to be paid for such
documents. 

(c) 
The place where, the date and time upto which the completed tender
forms will be received and time fixed for
opening of the tender.

65
338A.    Tender
Documents.—Tender documents usually comprise of :— 

(a)  
Instructions to tenderers. 

(b)  
I.R.S. and/or Special Conditions of Contract. 

(c)  
Specifications standard or special (and plans/drawings as
necessary). 

(d)  
Schcdule(s) to the tender giving full particulars of stores to be
supplied or work to be done. 

(e)  
Agreement form, to be signed by the tenderer in token of his
undertaking to supply the stores/carry out the
work detailed in the
schedule at the rates indicated therein, on the terms and conditions
specified in the tender and
his agreeing to keep the offer open for
acceptance upto a specified date. 

(f)  
A statement of deviations from the specifications. 

(g)  
A statement of deviations from the conditions of contract. 

339.   
Tender forms shall state inter alia :— 

(a)  
The amount of earnest money to accompany the tender and the nature
of security deposit, if any, required in
the case of an accepted tender ; 

Note
.—The amount of earnest money to be deposited should be sufficiently
large to be a security against loss, in
the event of contractor failing to
furnish the required security within the appointed time after acceptance
of his
tender, or until such time as the sums due to him form a sufficient
guarantee, as the case may be. The earnest
money should be in cash or in
the form of Deposit Receipts, Pay Orders, Demand Drafts and Guarantee
Bonds,
which could be either of State Bank of India, or any of the Nationalized
Banks or any other Scheduled Commercial
Bank. 

(b)  
With whom or what authority the acceptance of the tender will rest. 

(c)  
Whether or not tenders containing erasures and alterations or the
tender documents will be considered. 

Note
.—Such alterations constitute a fresh proposal and cannot be disregarded
but must definitely be accepted or
rejected. All tenders should,
therefore, in equity be placed on the same footing in this respect. 

The
forms for tender enquiries must provide for the acceptance by the
tendering contractor of I.R.S. conditions of
contract and special
conditions of contract (if any). Form S-339 gives a specimen tender form,
which can
conveniently be adopted. 

Form
No. S-339 

Tender  
No..............................................dated..............................to
be received upto

11.00
hrs.on......................................................

Tenderer/s
Name......................................................................................................  

Item No. Description Specification Price List Approx. Rate unit Destination
or drawing No. Quantity at which
 ref. required
1            
2

Special Instructions, if
any…………………………………………………………………………To
be filled in by Tenderer(s) 

(1) Tenderer(s) Registration

No.………………………………………………………………………………… 

(2) Registration No. with

National Small Scale Industries Corporation 
Ltd...............

(For Small
Scale Units only).

Item No. Rate

Inclusive of all F.O.R
(Station Make or Delivery Remark
charges of Dispatch) Brand By
offered
In Figure     In Word

 Rs. P

           
 

Note 1.— In the case of

imported goods, the country of origin, maker's name and brand must be
mentioned. In
the case of indigenous goods the tenderer(s) must specify
maker's name, brand and whether the stores offered
are a product of
Cottage or Small Scale Industry or medium/large scale industry.

2.— Tenderers while submitting

their quotations on forward delivery subject to assistance for grant of
Import
Licence, should also furnish the following information alongwith
their R.O.R. price to enable this office to arrange
for necessary foreign
exchange expenditure.

(i) 
C.I.F. value in Indian  Currency........................................................................ 

(ii) 
Customs duty
at.......................................................................................%. 

(iii) 
Port clearance, transport, profit
etc................................................................... 

(iv) 
Total value of
quotations.............................................................................. 

(v) 
Country of
Origin....................................................................................... 

To  

The President of India,  

Through :  

Controller of
Stores………………………………………….Railway.  

I/we agree to supply the stores

noted above at the rates quoted by me/us in accordance with the current
I.R.S.
Conditions of Contract and the Instructions to Tenderers contained
in pamphlet issued by the Controller of
Stores,...................................................Railway, as
amended upto date. 

                                                                                                
Signature of the
Tenderer(s)..............................

339A.
Waiver of Earnest Money.—In the case of tenders for the purchase of
stores, where the tenderers arc
unwilling to pay earnest money, the
Controller of Stores, in specific cases, may, in consultation with
Financial
Adviser, relax the condition of earnest money. 
340.   
The right should invariably be reserved to reject any or all of the
tenders received without the assignment of
a reason. 

341.   
Opening of Tenders.—Tenders should be opened at the specified
time and place by the officer nominated for
this purpose in the presence
of an accounts representative, who shall not be lower in rank than an
Assistant/Section
Officer . 

Unless
good and sufficient reasons exist (which must be recorded) all advertised
tenders where estimated value of
purchase exceeds rupees 3 lakhs, should
be opened in presence of such of the tenderers or their agents who may
choose to attend and the names of the tenderers and rates quoted by them
should be read out to the tenderers
present. While opening the tenders no
opportunity should be given to any tenderer to repudiate, amend or explain
the rate or any condition quoted in the tender. 

 No
tenders should be entertained from any party in his private capacity who
is directly or indirectly connected with
Government service. 

 (Authority Board's letter No. 98/RS(G)/779/10 Pt. I dated 02.07.99 acs no.7 page no. 67

341A.
Total value of the tender shall be the criterion for deciding the
"competent authority" for acceptance of a
tender irrespective of
whether the tender is decided in parts or as a whole. 

341B.
Constitution of Tender Committee.—Subject to directives issued by Railway Board, a Tender Committee,
consisting of a minimum of three members, one each from Stores, Accounts and Indenting Departments, shall be
constituted by the authority competent to accept the tenders, to deal with and render advice in all cases of tenders
valued over rupees ten lakhs. When General Manager is the authority competent to accept a tender, the Head of
Department concerned shall arrange to constitute the Tender Committee.

The Tender Committee should be so constituted that an Officer

recommending acceptance of a tender in his
capacity as a member of the Tender Committee shall not also be the accepting, authority of the same tender. In
such cases, the Officer concerned should put up the Tender Committee's proceedings to the next higher authority
for acceptance, not withstanding the fact that the Tender Committee's recommendations are within his own powers
of acceptance.

(Authority Board's letter No. 98/RS(G)/779/10 Pt. I & 2008/RS(G)/779/9 dated 02.07.99 & 06-
02-2009) --acs no. 7 & 21 page no. 67

341C.
A statement of comparative rates and other tender conditions should be
prepared by the branch concerned
and verified by the Accounts Department.
It must be ensured that all tenders received, including late and delayed
tenders, are tabulated in the comparative statement and put up to the
Tender Committee constituted for the
purpose, for its consideration. 

341D.
As far as practicable, tenders should be finalised within the initial
validity of offers. To facilitate this all the
information/clarifications
necessary for consideration of offers should be called for at one time and
not piecemeal.
Such clarification should not change the substance or price
of the original offer. 

342.   
The lowest tender should ordinarily be accepted. 
Acceptance or rejection of tender is left entirely to the
discretion of the authority entrusted with this duty and no explanation
can be demanded of the cause of rejection of
his offer by any person
making a tender. Such an explanation should, however, be recorded and may
be called for
by superior authority. Reasons for departing from
recommendations of the Tender Committee should also invariably
be recorded
by the accepting authority. 

342A.
Where special terms and conditions are accepted, they should be
incorporated in the contracts issued which
should ultimately contain no
more or no less than what is contained in the accepted tender or mutually
agreed to in
post tender correspondence or negotiations with the tenderer,
and approved by the accepting authority.
Incorporation of terms and
conditions which are not in the tender or which have not been specifically
agreed to by
the tenderer will not create a legally binding agreement but
will amount to a "counter offer" only, which shall require
consent of the tenderer before a binding contract takes effect. 

342B.
Intimation of Acceptance of Tenders.—A contract is concluded upon
communication of the acceptance which
must be within the time prescribed.
Where post is the medium of communication between the parties, the
acceptance is complete as soon as it is posted by registered post or under
certificate of posting.

343.   
Freight Factor in Purchase of Material.—Railways should in
purchasing their requirements of stores or
materials, ordinarily obtain
quotations from supplying firms,  
F.O.R. destination and, in selecting tenders, also take
into
consideration the freight element in finally determining the cheapest
source of supply. 

344.   
Dividing of Contracts.—Where warranted, (for reasons to be
recorded), the tender quantity may be split and
tender decided in favour
of one or more firms depending on merit of each case, in consultation with
FA & CAO and
approval of the authority competent to accept the tender,
having regard to the following factors :— 
(i)  
Vital or critical nature of items. 

(ii) 
Quantity to be procured, 

(iii)  
Delivery requirements, 

(iv) 
Capacity of firms in the zone of consideration. 

(v) 
Past performance of firms. 

Where
parallel rate contracts are awarded on two or more firms, care should be
taken that, subsequently each of
the firms is afforded relatively equal
opportunity for making supplies to the railway by purchase orders being
placed
on each in turn for quantities proportionate to the quantity
notified in the rate contract. 

345.   
Locomotive and Rolling Stock Components.—If after inviting
tenders for locomotive and rolling of stock
components of any considerable
value, which are manufactured by firms in India, it is intended to place
an order for
imported articles, the sanction ot the Railway Board should
be obtained. 

346.   
Contracts for Works & Stores.—All tenders for Works and
Stores valued over Rupees 8 crores in case of
indigenous tender and over
Rupees 2 crores involving F.E. should be sent to Railway Board with
recommendations
for their acceptance. 

(Railway Board’s letter No. 98/RS(G)/779/10 Pt. I dt. 02.07.99) --acs no. 09 page no. 68

Note.—Girders,
structural steel work, rolling stock and other like materials which
involve manufacture come under
category of works and not stores for the
purpose of determining the powers to enter into contracts.

347.   
Deleted. 

348. & 349.    DELETED 

(Railway Board’s) letter No. 95 /RS (G) / 768 dt 17.08.1995 conveying Ministry of Finance S.O.M No. F. 23 (2) –
E.II(A)/92 dt. 24.6.92)--acs no.3  page no.68 & 69

350.
Inspection.—All articles whether manufactured in India or abroad should
be subject to inspection before
acceptance and articles for which
specifications and/or tests have been prescribed by competent authority,
should
be required to conform to specifications and/or to satisfy the
prescribed test or tests which may be carried out
during manufacture or
before or after despatch from suppliers premises. 

351.
Nomenclature.—As far as practicable, standard forms Of nomenclature or
description should be employed in
the invitation to the tender to
encourage free competition and the terminology in all cases should be such
as to
show beyond all reasonable doubt what exactly is required, the place
of delivery or installation, the warranty and
maintenance requirements and
other pertinent terms. 

The
appropriate specifications should be annexed to or quoted in the
invitations to tender, it should be stipulated in
the condition of
contract that the articles supplied will be subject to inspection and/ or
tests prescribed in the
specifications before acceptance. In cases where
the specifications or drawings cannot be annexed to the invitations
to
tender, it must be specified where the specifications or drawings can be
had or seen. 

Note
1. In case of stores, no particular make or brand should be specified in
the invitations to the tender, except in
those cases where a particular
plant or machine patented under a particular name is required or when
spare parts
are needed for such plant or machinery. 

2.
Any additional information, clarification, correction of errors or
alterations of tender documents should be
promptly advised to all those
who had requested the original tender documents and additional time as
warranted
should be given for submission of tenders. 

352.   
In the case of important construction works let out on contract,
articles required for the construction of such
works may be supplied by
the contracting firm provided that when specifications and/or tests have
been prescribed
for such articles they should conform to such
specifications and/or satisfy such tests. 

353.   
When tenders for important construction works are invited, the
officer concerned should also stipulate in the
invitation to tender, that
the articles required for the construction of such works must comply with
specifications
prescribed for such articles, which should be annexed to or
quoted in the invitation to the tender. The articles should
be inspected
and/or tested in accordance with provisions of the specifications before
acceptance and use on the
work. 

354.   
All purchase officers should take steps to ensure that adequate
inspection arrangements are made in each
case. 
Services of Research Design and Standards Organisation, Lucknow,
Rail India Technical and Economic
Services Ltd., New Delhi, Railway
Adviser, London or Director General of Supplies and Disposals as required
may be
utilised for, this purpose. 

355.   
Deleted. 

356.   
As soon as contract has been awarded for articles which require
inspection and/or test during manufacture or
before despatch/shipment from
abroad, a complete copy of the contract with specifications, drawings,
conditions of
contract and all other relevant documents should be sent to
the nominated inspecting agency with complete
instructions for inspection
and full address of the manufacturers.  
The contractors should also be informed of the
agency, nominated to
carry out the inspection during manufacture or before shipment against the
contract, with
whom they should further co-ordinated. 

357.   
Deleted.         

358.   
In case of orders for plant and machinery, whether purchased in
India or obtained from abroad, which
include erection and test at site of
work, arrangements for inspection and tests after erection at site can also
be
made through Research Design & Standards Organisation, Lucknow,
Rail India Technical & Economic Services or the
Director General of
Supplies & Disposals. 

359.    
Inter-Departmental Purchases.—Nothing in this chapter shall be
deemed to prohibit the purchase of articles
by one department of railway
from another. 

360.   
Deleted. 

361.   
Deleted. 

362.   
Deleted. 

363.   
Deleted. 

364.   
Deleted. 

Composition of Tender Committee for dealing with tenders for purchase of Stores & Powers of Stores
Officers for acceptance of tenders as determined by Rly. Board

Paras 341 (b) & 342

TENDER COMMITTEE

Value limit Acceptance by Stores Consuming Finance  I

Deptt.
(1)Rs. 10 Lakhs to Rs. 30 Lakhs J.A.G. Sr. Scale Sr. Scale Jr. Scale

(2) Rs. 30 lakhs to Rs. 1 Crore S.A.G. J.A.G. J.A.G. Sr. Scale

(3) Rs. 1 Crore to Rs. 2 Crore SAG. J.A.G. J.A.G. J.A.G.

(4) Rs. 2 Crore to Rs. 15 Crore PHOD/CHOD S.A.G. S.A.G. S.A.G.

(5) Rs. 15 Crore to Rs. 25 Crores. A.G.M.* PHOD/CHOD PHOD /CHOD S.A.G.

(6) Rs. 25 Crores and upto Rs. 50 G.M. PHOD/CHOD PHOD /CHOD PHOD
Crore. /CHOD

Note: -  *In units where there is no AGM, the accepting authority will be GM against item 5 as well of above table.

(Authority Board's letter No.  98/RS(G)/779/10/Pt. I   & 2008/RS(G)/779/9 dated 02.07.99 & 06-02-
2009) acs no. 10 & 22 page no. 71

*****************