How foreign companies can bid for Indian government tenders: CPPP…

The routes in, at a glance

Route	What you need	What it opens
Bid directly on CPPP as a foreign bidder	Enrolment (free, no PAN) + Class 3 DSC	Global tenders; treaty-covered tenders (e.g. UK CETA)
Indian subsidiary	Incorporation, PAN, CIN, GST	GeM, every portal, and Make in India classes if you add local value
Joint venture or Indian partner	Partner with local content	Class-I or Class-II status
Deemed OEM on GeM	An Indian company authorised to list your brand	GeM catalogue sales
Indian agent	A disclosed agent with its own registration	Tenders where the agent bids for you
Development-bank projects	Bank’s own eligibility rules	Projects exempt from the global tender bar

The rule that shapes everything: Make in India

The Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, last revised 19 July 2024, sorts every supplier by local content:

Class	Local content	What it means
Class-I local supplier	50% or more	Can bid everywhere; gets a 20% purchase preference
Class-II local supplier	20% or more	Can bid in most tenders; no preference
Non-local supplier	Below 20%	Only in global tender enquiries

Where a ministry has declared enough local capacity, only Class-I suppliers can bid, at any value.
Purchase preference: for divisible goods, if the lowest bidder isn’t Class-I, it gets 50% of the quantity, and the lowest Class-I bidder within 20% can match its price for the rest.
Local content excludes imports bought from local resellers, royalties paid abroad, and imported products that are refurbished, repackaged or rebranded.
Proof: you self-certify local content. Above ₹10 crore, a statutory auditor, cost auditor or chartered accountant must certify it. A false declaration can mean debarment for up to two years.
Purchases under ₹5 lakh are exempt.
Reciprocity: buyers can exclude suppliers from countries that bar Indian suppliers.
Joint ventures: above a value set by each ministry, foreign companies may form a JV with an Indian company, and such JVs can be exempted from local content, with the requirement phased up over time.
PLI manufacturers: companies in India’s production-linked incentive schemes count as Class-II.

Global tender enquiries (GTE): under GFR 161(iv), no global tender is allowed up to ₹200 crore unless the competent authority named by the Department of Expenditure approves. Exemptions include projects funded by development banks or bilateral agencies, research equipment, and spares bought from the original manufacturer. Global tenders give at least four weeks to bid, and notices go to embassies.

Route 1: Bid directly on CPPP

The Central Public Procurement Portal (eprocure.gov.in) runs on the NIC e-procurement system, which many states also use.

Enrol online, free. Use an email address as your login, and choose Bidder Type: Foreign. You give your country and your company registration number; no Indian PAN is needed.
Get a Class 3 digital signature certificate (DSC) from a certifying authority licensed by India’s Controller of Certifying Authorities:
- it’s issued to an individual signatory, not the company;
- foreign applicants use remote eKYC: upload a passport (or another accepted ID) and address proof, then complete a live video verification and an OTP or phone check;
- for an organisational DSC, add your organisation’s ID, a letter of authorisation and proof of existence from a public registry;
- CPPP estimates about ₹2,000–3,000, 3–7 days to issue, and validity of one to two years.
Register the DSC on your CPPP account. You’re only a valid bidder once it’s registered, and a DSC mapped to one account can’t be moved to another.
Find tenders, mark them as favourites and download the documents.
Bid:
- pay the tender fee and bid security, or upload an exemption document;
- encrypt and upload each cover;
- click “Freeze Bid”. A bid that isn’t frozen is invalid.
All times are Indian Standard Time.

Claiming treaty status: since July 2026, CPPP’s bid submission includes an “Avail FTA Option”. You select the FTA category and upload supporting documents. UK suppliers use it to claim their rights under the UK–India CETA. See how UK companies can bid for Indian government tenders.

Land-border rule: bidders from countries sharing a land border with India face extra registration requirements under GFR 144(xi).

Route 2: An Indian subsidiary, and GeM

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) handles a large share of central purchases, and central buyers must use it for items listed there. It’s built for Indian entities:

sellers are Indian legal forms: proprietorships, partnerships, LLPs and companies;
registration needs an Indian organisation PAN, a CIN for companies, and the authorised person’s Aadhaar or personal PAN;
a company incorporated abroad has no CIN, so in practice it can’t complete registration. Whether a foreign company’s Indian branch office can register isn’t stated.

An Indian subsidiary is therefore the most robust route. It gets a PAN, CIN and GST, can register on GeM and every other portal, can bid without the global tender restrictions if it meets the local-content classes, and can claim MSE benefits where eligible.

GeM facts:

Registration is free, and caution money was abolished in 2025.
Transaction charges:
- none on orders up to ₹10 lakh;
- 0.30% above ₹10 lakh up to ₹10 crore;
- a flat ₹3 lakh above ₹10 crore.
Charges start once you pass ₹20 lakh of orders in a financial year, together with a one-time ₹10,000 annual milestone charge.
Payment: buyers pay 100% within 10 days of the acceptance certificate and online bill, unless the bid says otherwise.
Bid security on GeM: none below ₹5 lakh; buyers can set 0.5–5% (1% recommended).
Performance security on GeM: up to 5%, within 15 days of award.

See how to register on GeM.

Route 3: A Deemed OEM partner

On GeM, a foreign brand owner can authorise an Indian company as a “Deemed OEM” to list its products. Foreign brands need a registered trademark and must pass the land-border check. This gets your products onto GeM without your own Indian entity, though the Indian partner is the seller.

Route 4: Joint ventures and local partners

Reaching the local-content classes: a JV or partnership with an Indian manufacturer can lift your offer to Class-II (20%) or Class-I (50%). Local assembly, components and services all count, if they’re genuinely Indian value.
Works: Indian works JVs typically require the lead member to hold at least 50%.
See consortium and joint venture bidding rules.

Route 5: Indian agents

Ministries may enlist Indian agents of foreign principals (GFR 152). The rules:

in a single tender, either the principal or its agent bids, not both;
one agent can’t represent two manufacturers in the same tender;
foreign bidders must disclose their Indian agents and commissions.

Bid and performance security

Item	Rule
Bid security (EMD)	2–5% of the estimate, valid 45 days beyond bid validity (GFR 170); or a Bid Securing Declaration instead
Performance security	3–5% for goods and services, valid 60 days beyond all obligations (GFR 171)
Works	Performance security plus retention, 3–10%
MSEs and startups	Exempt from bid security

See what is EMD in a tender.

Development-bank projects

Projects funded by the World Bank, ADB and other development banks or bilateral agencies can be exempted from the ₹200 crore global tender bar, with Secretary-level approval, and follow the bank’s procurement rules. They’re often the most open part of the Indian market for foreign firms. See how to win World Bank-financed contracts.

Trade agreements with procurement chapters

UK–India CETA (in force 15 July 2026): UK suppliers get access to central government tenders above ₹5.5 crore for goods and services and ₹60 crore for works, and Class-II status with at least 20% UK value-add. Claim it through CPPP’s FTA option.
India–UAE CEPA: India covers 34 central ministries at SDR 20 million, but excludes procurement under the Make in India order, PSUs, construction and health. In practice, the cover is very limited. See Indian companies bidding for UAE government contracts.
India isn’t a party to the WTO GPA, so most countries’ suppliers have no treaty access.

What changed in 2025–2026

GeM caution money abolished (2025); GeM’s terms revised to v1.29 (25 March 2026).
GeM: MSE status in services bids verified automatically from the Udyam profile (from 10 September 2025); rate contracts added; railway and defence portals being integrated into GeM (2026).
CPPP FTA bid option added (July 2026), the day after the UK–India CETA entered into force.
Remote DSC for foreign applicants: the CCA’s v2.6 guidelines (June 2026) set out eKYC with video verification.
Make in India order: no revision since 19 July 2024.
GeM global tendering: trade press has reported multi-currency global tendering for overseas sellers, but GeM’s terms still price in rupees and don’t describe it. Treat it as unconfirmed.

For the general process, see how to bid on government tenders in India and digital signature certificates for e-tendering.

Live Indian tenders

Questions

Can a foreign company bid for Indian government tenders?

Yes. On the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP), you can enrol as a ‘Foreign’ bidder with your country and company registration number, without an Indian PAN, and bid with a Class 3 digital signature certificate. But under the Make in India order, suppliers with less than 20% Indian local content can only bid in global tender enquiries, which are barred below ₹200 crore without special approval.

Can a foreign company register on GeM?

Not without an Indian entity. GeM registration needs an Indian organisation PAN, and a CIN for companies, which a company incorporated abroad doesn’t have. The usual routes are an Indian subsidiary, or authorising an Indian company as a ‘Deemed OEM’ to list your brand. Registration itself is free and caution money has been abolished.

Can a foreigner get an Indian digital signature certificate (DSC)?

Yes. Licensed certifying authorities can issue Class 3 DSCs to foreign applicants by remote eKYC: you upload a passport and address proof, then complete a live video verification and an OTP or phone check. For an organisational DSC you also provide proof of the organisation’s existence and a letter of authorisation. Older guidelines required apostille or embassy attestation, so confirm with the CA.

What are the Make in India local supplier classes?

Class-I local supplier: at least 50% local content. Class-II: at least 20%. Non-local: below 20%. Only Class-I and Class-II can bid in most tenders; Class-I suppliers get a 20% purchase preference; and where a ministry has declared enough local capacity, only Class-I can bid.

What is a Global Tender Enquiry in India?

A tender open to non-local suppliers. Under GFR 161(iv), global tenders aren’t allowed up to ₹200 crore unless the Department of Expenditure’s competent authority approves, with exemptions such as projects funded by development banks. Global tenders give at least four weeks to bid and are sent to embassies.

How do UK companies claim CETA status on CPPP?

Since July 2026, CPPP’s bid submission has an ‘Avail FTA Option’: you select the FTA category and upload supporting documents. It’s how UK suppliers, and suppliers under other Indian trade agreements with procurement chapters, claim their treaty status in a tender.

Sources

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.