How Indian government tendering actually works
Tender Eligibility Criteria in India: The Four Clauses That Decide Your Bid
Average annual turnover, similar work, solvency and registration: the four clauses that decide whether an Indian government bid survives technical evaluation, and how each is computed.
11 Aug 2026 · 11 min readHow Average Annual Turnover Is Calculated for a Government Tender
Which three years count, whether GST is included, how a new company is treated and what to do when turnover falls short of the tender threshold.
08 Aug 2026 · 9 minEligibilityWhat "Similar Work" Actually Means in a Tender, and How It Is Judged
The similar-work clause rejects more bids than price does. What counts as similar, how the value threshold works, and which completion evidence the committee accepts.
05 Aug 2026 · 10 minEligibilityBank Solvency Certificate for Tenders: What It Is and How to Get One
What a bank solvency certificate proves, the value it must be issued for, how long it stays valid and how many working days to allow before a bid closes.
02 Aug 2026 · 7 minEligibilityJoint Venture Bidding on Government Tenders: When It Works and When It Fails
When a JV is permitted, how turnover and experience are aggregated between partners, what the JV agreement must state, and the liability every partner takes on.
30 Jul 2026 · 10 minEligibilityContractor Registration Classes Explained: Which Class Lets You Bid for What
How contractor registration classes cap the tender value you may bid for, how classes differ between states and central departments, and how to move up a class.
27 Jul 2026 · 9 minEMD & guaranteesEMD in Tenders: What Earnest Money Is, Who Is Exempt, and When It Comes Back
What earnest money deposit secures, the accepted instruments, who is exempt under the MSE policy, when it is refunded and the grounds on which it can be forfeited.
24 Jul 2026 · 10 minEMD & guaranteesEMD Refund: How Long It Takes and What to Do When It Does Not Arrive
When earnest money is due back to an unsuccessful bidder, why refunds stall, who to write to, and how to keep a register so nothing sits unclaimed.
21 Jul 2026 · 8 minEMD & guaranteesWhen EMD Can Be Forfeited, and When Forfeiture Can Be Challenged
The grounds on which earnest money may be forfeited, what the bid document must state for forfeiture to hold, and the route to challenge an unfair forfeiture.
18 Jul 2026 · 8 minEMD & guaranteesPerformance Bank Guarantee: Cost, Margin Money, and How to Get It Released
What a PBG secures, typical percentages of contract value, what a bank charges in commission and margin money, and how to get the guarantee released on time.
15 Jul 2026 · 10 minEMD & guaranteesBank Guarantee, FDR or Insurance Surety Bond: Which to Offer and What Each Costs
The three instruments a buyer will usually accept, what each costs in fees and locked capital, and how insurance surety bonds changed the arithmetic for smaller firms.
12 Jul 2026 · 9 minEMD & guaranteesHow Many Tenders Can You Bid For at Once? An EMD Capacity Calculation
A worked method for calculating how much bid capacity your working capital actually supports, and why bidding beyond it costs more than the tenders you lose.
09 Jul 2026 · 9 minMSME benefitsWhat Udyam Registration Is Actually Worth on a Government Tender
EMD exemption, tender fee waiver, the 25 percent procurement target and purchase preference: the concrete benefits Udyam registration carries on a public bid.
06 Jul 2026 · 11 minMSME benefitsUdyam Registration for Tender Bidding: What to Enter and What Gets Checked
How to register on Udyam for the purpose of bidding, which classification your investment and turnover put you in, and how buyers verify the certificate.
03 Jul 2026 · 8 minMSME benefitsDPIIT Startup Recognition and Tender Relaxations: What You Can Actually Ask For
Which prior-turnover and prior-experience relaxations a DPIIT-recognised startup may seek on a public tender, and why they are discretionary rather than automatic.
30 Jun 2026 · 8 minMSME benefitsMake in India Purchase Preference: Class-I and Class-II Local Suppliers Explained
How local content decides whether you are a Class-I or Class-II local supplier, what purchase preference each carries, and the self-certification a buyer will ask for.
27 Jun 2026 · 9 minMSME benefitsThe 25 Percent MSE Procurement Target: What It Obliges Buyers to Do
What the Public Procurement Policy for MSEs requires of central buyers, the sub-targets for SC/ST and women-owned enterprises, and how to use the policy in practice.
24 Jun 2026 · 8 minGeM & portalsGeM Seller Registration: The Steps, the Documents, and What Slows It Down
Registering as a seller on the Government e-Marketplace: the account types, the documents each requires, vendor assessment, and the steps that most often stall.
21 Jun 2026 · 10 minGeM & portalsHow to Participate in a GeM Bid: From Catalogue to Award
The difference between direct purchase, L1 and bids on GeM, how ATC conditions change eligibility, and what the reverse auction means for your quoted price.
18 Jun 2026 · 11 minGeM & portalsGeM or the e-Procurement Portal: Which One Will Your Buyer Use?
Where goods, works and services are actually tendered in India, why the same department uses different portals for different spend, and where to look for each.
15 Jun 2026 · 8 minGeM & portalsGeM Caution Money, Incident Management and Seller Penalties
What caution money is on GeM, when it is deducted, how incidents are raised against a seller, and what a rating drop does to your bid participation.
12 Jun 2026 · 7 minprocessHow to Read a Tender Document in Twenty Minutes
A reading order for a 200-page NIT that surfaces the disqualifying clauses first, so you know whether to bid before you have read the technical specification.
09 Jun 2026 · 10 minprocessSingle, Two and Three Cover Bidding: What Opens When
What each cover contains, when the technical and financial covers are opened, and why a bid rejected at the technical stage never has its price seen at all.
06 Jun 2026 · 8 minprocessDigital Signature Certificates for e-Tendering: Class, Type and Common Errors
Which DSC class e-procurement portals require, signing versus encryption certificates, token setup, and the errors that stop a bid uploading on the last day.
03 Jun 2026 · 9 minprocessSubmitting an e-Tender: The Last 48 Hours, Step by Step
Uploading, signing and freezing an online bid, why the portal clock is the only clock that counts, and the checks to run before the submission window closes.
31 May 2026 · 9 minprocessThe Pre-Bid Meeting: What to Ask, and Why It Must Be in Writing
The pre-bid meeting is the only sanctioned chance to change a tender condition. What to raise, how to phrase it, and why only the written corrigendum counts.
28 May 2026 · 8 minprocessCorrigendum in a Tender: How Conditions and Dates Change After Publication
What a corrigendum can change, how extensions to the closing date work, and why bidding on the original document after a corrigendum is a rejection risk.
25 May 2026 · 7 minPricingReverse Auction in Government Tenders: How to Set Your Floor Before It Starts
How a reverse auction runs after financial opening, the decrement rules, and why deciding your walk-away price before the auction is the only defence against it.
22 May 2026 · 8 minprocessBid Validity Period: What You Are Committing To, and What Happens If You Withdraw
How long a bid stays binding, what an extension request obliges you to do, the cost of holding a price for 180 days, and the consequence of withdrawing.
19 May 2026 · 7 mindocumentsDocuments Required for a Government Tender: The Complete Checklist
Every document a technical cover is usually judged on, which need attestation, which expire, and how far in advance each one has to be arranged.
16 May 2026 · 11 mindocumentsWork Order or Completion Certificate: Which One Proves Your Experience
Why a work order rarely satisfies an experience clause on its own, what a completion certificate must state, and how to obtain one years after the work finished.
13 May 2026 · 8 mindocumentsGST Returns and Income Tax Filings in Tender Documents: What Buyers Check
Which financial filings a tender asks for, how many years back, why a mismatch between ITR turnover and the declared figure is fatal, and how to reconcile them.
10 May 2026 · 8 mindocumentsAffidavits and Undertakings in Tenders: What You Are Actually Signing
Non-blacklisting declarations, no-relative undertakings, local content self-certification and the consequences of a declaration that later turns out to be wrong.
07 May 2026 · 8 mindocumentsWho May Sign a Bid: Authorised Signatories and Power of Attorney
Who is entitled to sign a bid for a proprietorship, partnership, LLP or company, what the power of attorney must say, and why the DSC must match the signatory.
04 May 2026 · 7 minPricingHow to Price a Government Tender So That Winning It Is Not the Problem
Building a bid price from rate analysis, overheads, financing cost, retention and the EMD locked for months, so the margin survives contact with the contract.
01 May 2026 · 12 minPricingL1, QCBS and LCS: How the Evaluation Method Changes What You Should Quote
How lowest-cost, quality-and-cost-based and least-cost selection differ, how QCBS weights are applied, and what each method rewards in a bid.
28 Apr 2026 · 9 minPricingWhat Past Award Data Tells You Before You Bid
How to read published award results: the discount to estimate a buyer usually accepts, how many bidders turn up, and which firms win repeatedly in your category.
25 Apr 2026 · 9 minPricingPrice Variation Clauses: Who Carries the Risk When Steel and Cement Move
How escalation formulae work in Indian public works contracts, what a fixed-price clause really commits you to, and how to price a contract that has none.
22 Apr 2026 · 9 minPricingAbnormally Low Bids: When the Lowest Price Loses the Contract
What makes a bid abnormally low, the justification a buyer may demand, the additional security they may ask for, and why the lowest price is not always the winner.
19 Apr 2026 · 8 minpaymentsRunning Account Bills: How Payment Actually Flows on a Public Works Contract
How RA bills are raised, measured and certified, what deductions come off each one, and how long the cycle takes from measurement to credit.
16 Apr 2026 · 9 minpaymentsRetention Money and Security Deposit: How Much Is Held and for How Long
What is deducted from each running bill, how retention differs from the performance guarantee, when the defect liability period ends and how to get the money back.
13 Apr 2026 · 8 minpaymentsWhen a Government Payment Is Late: The Escalation Path That Works
The order of escalation when a public buyer does not pay: the written reminder, the MSME Samadhaan route for registered enterprises, and interest entitlements.
10 Apr 2026 · 9 minpaymentsTDS, GST TDS and Labour Cess on a Government Contract
The deductions that come off a government running bill, which are creditable and which are a real cost, and how to build them into a bid price.
07 Apr 2026 · 8 minrejectionWhy Bids Get Technically Rejected, and How Each Reason Is Avoided
The recurring reasons a technical cover fails: expired certificates, unsigned pages, missing completion certificates, wrong signatory and unmet turnover clauses.
04 Apr 2026 · 10 minrejectionChallenging a Tender Decision: The Grievance Route and Its Limits
Where to raise a grievance about a tender decision, the time limits that apply, what evidence is worth submitting, and what the process realistically achieves.
01 Apr 2026 · 9 minrejectionBlacklisting and Debarment: What Triggers It and How Long It Lasts
The conduct that leads to debarment, how wide a blacklisting order reaches across departments, its usual duration, and the process before an order is passed.
29 Mar 2026 · 9 minrejectionRetender and Cancellation: Why a Tender You Bid For Disappears
Single-bid situations, insufficient competition, budget withdrawal and specification changes: why tenders are cancelled and retendered, and what it costs a bidder.
26 Mar 2026 · 7 minrejectionOnly One Bid Received: What Happens Next, and Should You Have Bid?
How buyers treat a single-bid situation, when a single bid may still be accepted, and what a repeatedly under-subscribed tender tells you about the opportunity.
23 Mar 2026 · 7 minprocessHow to Find Government Tenders You Are Actually Eligible For
Where Indian public tenders are published, how to search across portals without missing state notices, and how to filter by what you can actually qualify for.
20 Mar 2026 · 10 minprocessTender Alerts That Are Worth Having: Filters That Cut the Noise
Why keyword alerts produce noise, which filters actually predict a winnable tender, and how to set a threshold that leaves you with a readable daily list.
17 Mar 2026 · 7 minprocessThe Bid or No-Bid Decision: A Framework That Takes Ten Minutes
A short, repeatable test for whether a tender is worth pursuing, covering eligibility, capacity, competition, cash and margin, before any documents are prepared.
14 Mar 2026 · 9 minprocessGovernment Tender Glossary: 60 Terms in Plain English
NIT, EMD, PBG, ATC, BOQ, DLP, QCBS and the rest of the vocabulary an Indian tender document assumes you already know, defined in one line each.
11 Mar 2026 · 12 minKnow which of these you can actually win
Avsar reads the tender document, checks the tender you are reading about against your turnover, completed work and certificates, and tells you whether to bid, citing the clause it read. Free to search.
Avsar never submits a bid for you and never asks for your digital signature certificate.