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The National Thermal Power Corporation Limited or NTPC Ltd. is the largest power utility company in India. The company has ambitious plans to ramp its installed capacity up to 130 GW company by 2032. To meet its growing scope of work and procurement requirements, it announces NTPC tenders on the NTPC eProcurement portal. As a business owner, looking at finding new opportunities with government tendering, this article will help you learn about NTPC eTenders, how to explore the NTPC Limited eProcurement portal for tenders, how to stay alerted on latest tenders by NTPC and more.
On an average, NTPC has 1000+ active tenders on any day. Now, if you think that these tenders might be relevant only for the companies operating in power and engineering related works, you are mistaken. NTPC has diverse procurement needs and it fulfills them through its eProcurement platform. It is important to note that considering the gradual shift to eTendering, usually, NTPC does not accept any physical bid submission. All bid submissions have to be done online following the specified online tendering process.
Where can you find NTPC tenders?
NTPC has its own eprocurement portal: eprocurentpc.nic.in/nicgep/app
Here, you will be able to search for relevant tenders for your business by applying various filters such as tender by location, product category and more. You can also look for a tender by classification like tenders, auctions, empanelment, etc.
Additionally, you can also search by organisation. NTPC has several joint ventures across the country. You will be able to find tenders from these companies too. These joint venture companies include:
- Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company Limited
- NTPC Renewable Energy Limited
- NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited
- Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited
How to find and apply for NTPC tenders?
Similar to the CPPP eProcurement system all tenders published on the NTPC eTendering portal can be viewed by the public. No need to register to view NTPC tender details. However, if bidders want to apply for relevant tenders they will have to login to commence the NTPC tender application process.
- In order to start bidding on the NTPC eprocurement portal, you need to do online enrolment first. Class III Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) is a must have document for enrolment and tendering process. It can easily be obtained from Certifying Authorities (CAs) such as eMudhra, V-Sign (Verasys), NSDL, SafeScrypt, etc.
- Enrolling is a simple process. Visit NTPC eprocurement page, click on ‘Online Bidder Enrolment.’ Fill in the details of registration. Then, using login id, you need to log in again and map your DSC with your account.
- Once you have enrolled your business, you are ready to search for tenders and bid. You can click on ‘Active Tenders’, fill in the search criteria, apply filters and look for tenders suitable to your business.
- Read the tender document carefully. Check the eligibility criteria and determine if your business is eligible to bid for the tender. Depending on the type of tender there could be various criteria such as financial criteria, manufacturing capabilities, etc.
- Make a checklist of all the documents required. Make a note of how the Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) has to be paid. NTPC generally gives bidders flexibility to make online or offline payment.
- Arrange for EMD/tender fees. Make a timely payment as you need to submit the proof of payment while submitting the bid.
- Simultaneously, work on pricing/quotation for the tender. Arrive at the best possible price that is sustainable for your business.
- Fill in all the required details. Double check all the details you have checked filled in and attached documents.
- Once you have filled in all details, it is important that you click on ‘Freeze Bid’. This completes the bid submission process. If you miss to freeze your bid, it will not be considered for the tender evaluation process or it will be treated as an invalid bid.
- At the final stage of freezing bid, the NTPC eprocurement system not only gives a successful bid submission message but also shows the bid summary. The bid summary includes bid number and date and time of the bid submission. You need to print the bid summary and keep it for your record as an acknowledgement.
Eligibility for NTPC tenders
NTPC floats various tenders for procuring products and services. The requirements and expectations for each tender are different. The scope of work also differs. Therefore, the eligibility criteria for each NTPC tender could be unique.
For example, technical or engineering products procurement tender may require certain expertise, past experience of serving similar products, minimum plant capacity, manufacturing capability and so on. Financial criteria such as minimum turnover of the bidding company is also applied in many cases. Therefore, it is best to check for the eligibility criteria for each tender.
Moreover, there could be exceptions too. For example, you need to check if the tender is open for start-ups. DPIIT registered startups are exempted from the criteria of previous experience. On the other hand, if you are a NSIC registered company, it helps you to meet criteria by forming consortia.
Read and understand the eligibility criteria for each tender. It is one of the common bid management challenges faced by MSMEs and hence, you need to be careful.
Documents required for NTPC tenders
Although the documents needed for each tender differ some of the documents remain common across the government tenders. Here is a list of common documents required for government tenders. In the case of NTPC common documents may remain the same.
However, as per the project requirements, additional documents may vary. It is best to check each tender document for list of documents required.
- Scanned copy of PAN card
- Udyam registration certificate
- NSIC registration certificate
- Address proof of the business
- Proof of turnover for the specified period
- Scanned copy of Registration and Dealer/Registered Supplier Certificate, Partnership deed, if any
- Scanned copy of GST returns for the specified period
- Scanned copy of completed orders for a specified period
- Detailed project plan/ response to tender specifying products, materials, and work required
- Details of plants/machinery and other manufacturing capabilities
- Proofs of depositing EMD and tender fee
Moreover, make a note of acceptable formats and file sizes for the documents. Generally, NTPC accepts pdf / xls / rar/ dwf/ jpg formats. The file name containing special characters is not acceptable. Therefore, pay attention to these details.
NTPC eProcurement portal has a Downloads section, links for the software solutions required for working with application such as Open Office, Adobe Reader, PDF Creator, DWF Viewer etc., are mentioned. In this case if you do not already have installed software, you can take the help of this.
Points to remember about NTPC tendering process
- Once you register your DSC on an NTPC eProcurement platform using log-in and password, the same DSC cannot be mapped to another account. It can only be inactivated.
- Some of the commonly required documents such as certificates, etc., can be uploaded on the portal in advance. Then it can be easily be attached while filling in the tender with just a click.
- In case you need any clarification on a particular tender, it can easily be obtained online or you can contact the relevant authorities on contact details mentioned in the tender.
- If you are making offline payment of EMD, you need to submit proof of document physically to the department and attach scanned copies at the time of bid submission. The physically submitted document and the scanned copy should match, else your bid will be rejected.
- You need to check all your digital documents before submitting the bid. In case if your submitted file throws an error or authorities are not able to open due to virus, your bid will be rejected.
Frequently asked questions
Here are some answers to the frequently asked questions regarding NTPC tenders.
Whom should you get in touch with in case you have a doubt and need clarification?
In case you have a tender-related doubt, each tender document is provided with the email of the Tender Inviting Authority. You can contact them via email. Alternatively, if you have a technical or system-related doubt, you can contact NTPC’s 24×7 helpline numbers – 0120-4200462, 0120-4001002, +91-8826246593.
Once uploaded and frozen, can you withdraw your bid?
If you withdraw your bid after successful submission, you will not be allowed to bid for the same tender again and resubmit your bid. Also, you may lose EMD/tender fees that you may have paid.
Does NTPC charge any fee for bidder enrolment?
No. Bidder enrollment can be done free of cost and NTPC does not charge any fee for the same. However, you will need to pay for procuring DSC if you do not already have one.