“Uttar Pradesh has introduced new procurement rules to enhance transparency in tenders, mandating e-procurement and stricter bidder scrutiny. The guidelines aim to curb corruption, ensure fair competition, and streamline public spending. Key changes include digital bidding, detailed vendor disclosures, and penalties for non-compliance, aligning with India’s broader push for accountable governance.”
Uttar Pradesh Revamps Tender System for Greater Transparency
The Uttar Pradesh government has rolled out a comprehensive set of procurement rules to ensure transparency and accountability in the tendering process. Announced in August 2025, these guidelines mandate the use of e-procurement platforms like etender.up.nic.in for all government tenders, eliminating manual processes to reduce human interference and potential malpractices. The move aligns with the state’s commitment to fostering fair competition and optimizing public expenditure.
Under the new rules, all tender-related activities, including bid submission, evaluation, and contract awards, must be conducted online with digital signatures and encrypted data to ensure security. The system generates time-stamped reports for each stage, accessible only to authorized personnel, ensuring a clear audit trail. This follows the model set by Tamil Nadu, where e-procurement became mandatory in 2023, leading to streamlined operations and reduced irregularities.
A significant aspect of UP’s reforms is the emphasis on bidder scrutiny. Indian contractors with foreign nationals on their boards or those backed by foreign investors with over 15% stake must provide detailed disclosures about their supply chain and country of origin. This mirrors the Centre’s recent push to tighten norms for contracts up to ₹100 crore, as reported by The Economic Times in May 2025. The rules also introduce penalties for poor-quality goods or services, aiming to deter collusive bidding and cartelization, issues highlighted in a Tamil Nadu transformer procurement case where a ₹397 crore loss was alleged due to rigged tenders.
To further enhance accountability, the UP government plans to create a centralized database of contractors and suppliers, complete with service ratings based on past performance. This will allow authorities to assess track records before awarding contracts, a step inspired by the Centre’s ongoing efforts to standardize procurement norms across ministries and public sector enterprises. The database will also help identify patterns of non-compliance or fraud, ensuring only credible vendors participate.
The guidelines mandate that all tenders, regardless of value, comply with the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017, to promote domestic suppliers. This addresses past issues, such as those flagged by The Hindu in 2023, where restrictive tender conditions excluded local manufacturers by prioritizing foreign standards or brands. UP’s rules prohibit such discriminatory practices, requiring equivalent Indian certifications to be accepted.
For smaller contracts, often prone to oversight, the state has introduced stricter declaration requirements. Departments must now justify the selection of vendors and ensure competitive bidding. This is a response to concerns raised in a 2025 Hindu report about collusive bidding in Tamil Nadu, where multiple bidders quoted identical rates, suggesting pre-arranged pricing. UP’s rules aim to prevent such practices by enforcing random audits and cross-verification of bids.
The adoption of these measures comes amid growing scrutiny of public procurement across India. For instance, Andhra Pradesh’s Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) shifted to e-tendering in 2022 to ensure transparency in procuring raw materials, a model UP is emulating. The state’s push for digitalization also includes training programs for officials to adapt to the new system, ensuring smooth implementation.
Disclaimer: This article is based on recent reports from The Hindu, The Economic Times, and government portals like etender.up.nic.in, accessed in September 2025. Information is sourced from publicly available data and reflects the latest developments in Uttar Pradesh’s procurement policies. Readers are advised to verify details through official government channels for the most accurate and up-to-date information.