Sustainable Public Procurement: Towards a low‐carbon economy

4 Sustainable Public Procurement: Towards a low carbon economy
Executive summary
Box I: Study Questions
Gaining insight
into typical
practices and
processes through
which
procurement is
organized and
executed in India
Introducing SPP
and discuss its
feasibility in the
Indian context
Assessing
awareness,
interests and
concerns related
to SPP
Investigating
ongoing proposed
public sector
reforms that
would impact
procurement
Procurement can be, and is becoming, a key instrument of
sustainable development through the creation of markets for
more sustainable products. The Energy and Resources Institute
(TERI) with the International Institute for Sustainable
Development (IISD) had conducted a scoping study on the State
of Play in Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) in May 2007.
This phase was to review international and national sustainable
public procurement (SPP) initiatives, legal and policy frameworks
and conditions for implementation at national and international
level. Phase II of the study was undertaken to essentially fill in
the information gaps identified in Phase I by interacting
systematically with the practitioners and stakeholders. The first
sub phase of the Phase II of the project aimed at discussing
certain key research questions (Box I) around SPP in India. This
report is for the first six months of the project.
It was decided to have a working definition of sustainability
pegged to any one variable, which would find immediate
resonance with the Indian procurement establishment. In view of
the findings of Phase I and other studies showing energy
efficiency as a key tool for energy security and moving towards a
low carbon economy, it was decided to approach the issue of
sustainability through the lens of energy efficiency.
Public procurement in India: Policy, practices and processes
The overall institutional framework for public procurement in
India comprises the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce
and industry and the Central Vigilance Commission. These
ministries and departments of the government provide an overall
general framework within which different public institutions
operate and carry on their business including procurement. The
actual procedure and practices governing procurement is
governed by the company level rules and policies, which are
designed keeping in mind not only the government guidelines but
also the nature of the industry, size and institutional culture of
the company.
There are primarily three kinds of procurement, (i) bulk and
regular purchases that are overseen by the materials department
of the, (ii) project specific procurement by specialized project
T E R I Report No. 2007GL01