India Could Open Up Public Procurement For US Firms As Part Of BTA — Profit Exclusive
The market will be opened up in a phased and reciprocal manner, meaning Indian firms could also get access to US public procurement market.
India is considering opening up its large public procurement market for US firms on a reciprocal basis, as the former aims to sweeten talks for a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement.
Similar to the offers made to trade partners such as UK, Australia and UAE via trade deals, India could open a part of it vast public procurement market—about $50 billion or 40,000 tenders annually—to private US bidders, according to officials.
The market will be opened up in a phased and reciprocal manner, meaning Indian firms could also get access to US public procurement market.
Only central government-linked projects will be opened up for bidding, with states, municipalities and local bodies being excluded to protect smaller, domestic firms.
In the UK FTA too, as per a government statement, British businesses are getting access to India's public procurement market, comprising approximately 40,000 tenders with a value of at least £38 billion or about Rs 4.3 lakh crore a year.
Newly appointed Government e-Marketplace Chief Executive Officer, Mihir Kumar, had also stated earlier that the platform has started work on allowing global firms to bid for government contracts. This is in alignment with provisions offered by India to the UAE and more recently, the UK.
In its 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, the US had criticised India's lack of an "overarching government procurement policy".
"As a result, its government procurement practices and procedures vary among different ministries within the central government. India provides procurement preferences to Indian micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises and to state-owned enterprises," it had said.
In defense procurements, India’s offset program requires companies to invest 30% or more of the acquisition cost of contracts above the threshold value in Indian-produced parts, equipment, or services, "which continues to be challenging for US manufacturers, including those of high-technology equipment, to meet given changing rules and limited opportunities," it said.
India is also not a party to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, but has been an observer to the WTO Committee on Government Procurement since February 2010.
