What the agreement opened
The UK–India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) entered into force on 15 July 2026. Its government procurement chapter is the first in any Indian trade agreement. For the purchases it covers, Indian buyers must not discriminate against UK suppliers — subject to the Make in India and small-enterprise carve-outs below — and must publish tenders openly and judge UK firms on their real qualifications. In return, Indian companies gained the same standing in UK public procurement — see how to bid for UK government contracts.
Which Indian buyers are covered
Covered: 51 central ministries and departments listed in India’s schedule — including Railways, External Affairs and Atomic Energy — and their subordinate offices that buy independently. Central public-sector enterprises (CPSEs) set up by those ministries are covered too, except those exposed to competitive market forces. The schedule names 28 CPSEs as examples, such as Food Corporation of India, Konkan Railway, Rail Vikas Nigam, IRFC, NHIDCL and NICDC — but that list is indicative, not complete.
Not covered:
- State governments and their bodies — India’s schedule lists none.
- Ministries not in the schedule, including Defence, Home Affairs, Electronics and IT, and Space.
- Purchases for essential security, arms and national defence.
- Agricultural support and food-aid programmes, government-to-government purchases, and procurement outside India.
- The micro and small enterprise preferences — India keeps those in full.
The thresholds
The agreement applies to contracts at or above these values, including all taxes:
| Contract type | Threshold | Approximate value |
|---|---|---|
| Goods | SDR 450,000 | About ₹5.5 crore / £480,000 |
| Services | SDR 450,000 | About ₹5.5 crore / £480,000 |
| Construction services | SDR 5,000,000 | About ₹62 crore / £5.3 million |
The Class-II route: the key to most of the market
India keeps its Make in India order, which ranks suppliers by local content:
| Class | Local content | Standing |
|---|---|---|
| Class-I local supplier | 50% or more | Gets the purchase preference |
| Class-II local supplier | 20% or more | Can bid in domestic tenders, without preference |
| Non-local supplier | Under 20% | Generally limited to global tender enquiries |
The agreement’s crucial rule: India must treat a UK supplier as a Class-II local supplier when its goods or services are of UK origin and meet the Class-II threshold — with value added in the UK counting as local content.
That matters because of another rule. India’s General Financial Rules don’t allow global tender enquiries for contracts up to ₹200 crore without special approval, so most Indian tenders are domestic. Make in India lets Class-I and Class-II suppliers bid in domestic tenders. So a UK supplier with at least 20% UK value added can bid for covered contracts from about ₹5.5 crore up to ₹200 crore. A UK supplier below 20% is generally limited to global tenders above ₹200 crore.
Local content is calculated as the total value (excluding net domestic indirect taxes) minus imported content, divided by the total value. You self-certify it in your bid. Above ₹10 crore, you need a certificate from a statutory or cost auditor, and a wrong declaration can bring a penalty or debarment. Some ministries set higher local-content percentages for particular items, so check the tender.
The preferences that still favour Indian bidders
Even inside the agreement, two preferences remain:
- Class-I preference. If the lowest bidder isn’t a Class-I local supplier, the lowest Class-I bidder within 20% of it can match the price. On a divisible order it takes half; on an indivisible order, the whole order. Class-II suppliers, including qualifying UK firms, get no such preference.
- Micro and small enterprise preference. Indian MSEs within 15% of the lowest price can match it for at least a quarter of the order, and 358 items are reserved for them. The agreement leaves all of this in place.
Also watch for items a ministry has notified as having sufficient local capacity: in those, only Class-I suppliers can bid, and Class-II status may not be enough.
How to bid, step by step
- Find covered tenders. India designates the GeM-CPPP portal (eprocure.gov.in) and GeM (gem.gov.in) for covered procurement. Check each buyer against India’s schedule, and the value against the threshold.
- Get an Indian digital signature. Bids on CPPP and NIC portals are signed with a Class 3 DSC from an Indian licensed Certifying Authority. Foreign applicants verify by eKYC: identity and address proof, proof the organisation exists in a public registry, an authorisation letter, and video verification with the originals. See DSC for e-tendering.
- Enrol on the portal. Enrolment is free. NIC’s guidance for foreign bidders asks for a passport copy, an attested or apostilled bank statement and trade licence, and a company authorisation letter.
- On GeM, global tender bids and a foreign seller sign-up are on GeM’s global bid platform. GeM charges 0.3% on global tender orders (a flat ₹15 lakh at ₹50 crore and above).
- Prepare your bid to the tender’s format, with your local-content self-certification. Allow time — tenders open to foreign bids must give at least four weeks.
- Arrange EMD — ordinarily 2–5% of the estimated value, by bank guarantee, insurance surety bond or other permitted forms. See What is EMD in a tender?.
- Consider an Indian agent — optional. India’s rules let a foreign manufacturer appoint one agent per tender, with commission normally capped at 5% and paid in rupees.
The border-country registration requirement that applies to firms from countries sharing a land border with India does not apply to UK companies.
If something goes wrong
The agreement requires India to provide a timely, impartial review of bid complaints, independent of the buyer, with at least 10 days to file, the power to suspend a procurement, and appeal or judicial review. We haven’t found an Indian notification naming the review body for these complaints yet; until one appears, complaints go to the buyer’s competent authority, with the courts as the fallback. Disputes between the two governments over this chapter can’t go to formal dispute settlement until July 2030.
What to expect in practice
The opening is real but early. GeM has until about July 2027 to meet the agreement’s e-procurement requirements, and in September 2026 GeM said it was preparing to register suppliers from trade-agreement partners. The covered CPSEs include several infrastructure bodies — railways, highways and industrial corridors — so they are good places to watch.
Central-government tenders above the threshold, open now
78 open tenders from Indian central-government buyers and public-sector enterprises are worth ₹5.5 crore or more. Not all are covered by the agreement — check the buyer against India’s schedule — but this is the pool to start from.
See every open tender in India
Questions
Do UK companies need an Indian subsidiary to bid?
No. The agreement bars India from requiring a UK supplier to have previous Indian contracts or Indian work experience, or to be a particular kind of legal entity, and requires buyers to take account of work done outside India. An Indian subsidiary or joint venture is optional — mainly useful if you want to reach the higher Class-I local supplier status.
Are state-government tenders covered?
No. India’s schedule covers central-government entities only. State governments and their bodies are not covered.
Can UK companies bid for Indian defence contracts?
Not under the agreement. The Ministry of Defence isn’t in India’s schedule, and procurement for essential security, arms and national defence is excluded.
What currency do I bid in?
The buyer decides — the agreement lets it require Indian rupees. In global tender enquiries, India’s procurement manual allows foreign bidders to quote in major currencies such as pounds sterling, with Indian costs in rupees.
Do UK companies have to pay EMD?
Usually, yes. Bid security is ordinarily 2–5% of the estimated value. The EMD exemption is for Indian micro and small enterprises and DPIIT-recognised startups, which UK companies won’t normally qualify as.
How big is the opportunity?
The UK government estimates around 40,000 tenders a year worth at least £38 billion. That figure is an upper bound: it doesn’t account for the thresholds, excluded goods and services, or Make in India restrictions.
Sources
- UK–India CETA, Chapter 15: Government Procurement — UK Government
- UK–India CETA, Annex 15A: India’s schedule of government procurement commitments — UK Government
- Government procurement opportunities in India — UK Government Business Growth Service
- UK–India trade deal: conclusion summary — UK Government
- India and the UK: CETA set to enter into force on 15 July 2026 — Press Information Bureau
- Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, revised 2024 — DPIIT
- General Financial Rules 2017 (updated to 31 January 2026) — Department of Expenditure
- Identity Verification Guidelines, including eKYC for foreign applicants — Controller of Certifying Authorities
- GeM Global Tender Enquiry bids and foreign seller sign-up
- GeM Revenue Policy for Global Tender Enquiries v1.0
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.