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DoP relaxes eligibility criteria for selection of consultancy firm to execute PRIP Scheme
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Gireesh Babu, New Delhi
August 07 , 2024
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The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has relaxed the pre-qualification criteria and extended the timeline for bid submission by eligible consulting firms to work with the Department for strategy development and implementation of the Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma MedTech (PRIP) sector scheme.
The Department has revised the tender document to relax the pre-qualification criteria allowing the agencies or consultants who have experience handling or completing order value of more than Rs. 4 crore (for each order) in domestic market and $1 million for international market during the last 10 years.
Earlier, the bidders who have completed or handled projects with each order value of more than Rs. 8 crore for domestic and $1 million for international projects during the last 10 years only were eligible to apply for the job.
Similarly, the scoring criteria to be used for evaluation was fixed to the effect that the bidder must submit the number of projects it handled with each order value of more than Rs. 8 crore during the last 10 years. The evaluation was to provide one mark per project subject to a maximum of 10 projects.
However, this has also now been relaxed, so that the bidders can enlist the number of projects with each order value of more than Rs. 4 crore during the last 10 years. The scoring criteria has also been changed, so that two marks per project subject to a maximum of five projects are to be calculated during evaluation.
The Department also revised the provision for payment of consultants, to clarify that all payments to the consultant shall be made in Indian Rupees on a quarterly basis, contingent upon the achievement of performance deliverables. The exchange risk, if any, shall be borne by the consultant.
The timeline for submission of Request for Proposal (RFP) has been extended from August 14 to August 31, and the bid opening date from August 16 to September 2, 2024.
The Department, on July 24, invited tenders from eligible bidders for providing consultancy services for the PRIP sector scheme, announced last year to support research and development (R&D) and innovation in pharma, medical devices and animal health segments.
The time-period of the assignment will be two years from the date of award of the contract extendable to one more year on monthly remuneration basis on same terms and conditions.
The consultants are expected to support the DoP in administration, management and supervision of the scheme, and monitor and review the progress of selected projects under the scheme and appraise the progress of the scheme to the department.
The DoP has notified the Scheme PRIP with an outlay of Rs. 5,000 crore in August, 2023 and had initiated efforts to identify the Project Management Agency (PMA) from central public sector undertakings and public financial institutes. The proposed appointment of consultants is also part of these efforts to execute the scheme.
The scheme has two components comprising strengthening of research infrastructure through establishment of seven National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPERs) as Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in specific specialisations at a tentative cost of Rs. 700 crore and promotion of research in Pharma-MedTech sector by providing financial assistance for research in six priority areas - new chemical and biological entities, and natural products; complex generics and biosimilars; precision medicines; medical devices; orphan drugs; and drug development for antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
"The objective of the scheme is to transform the Indian Pharma MedTech sector from cost based to innovation-based growth by strengthening the research infrastructure in the country. The aim of the scheme is to promote industry academia linkage for R&D in priority areas and to inculcate the culture of quality research and nurture our pool of scientists. This will lead to sustained global competitive advantage and contribute to quality employment generation in the country," said the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) in its PRIP Scheme notification.
In terms of financial assistance from the total outlay of Rs. 5,000 crore, the establishment of CoEs in NIPERs will have an outlay of Rs. 700 crore, nine projects in the BI category will be eligible for R&D fund of around Rs. 1,125 crore, 30 projects in the BII will be eligible for Rs. 3,000 crore and 125 projects in BIII will have an outlay of Rs. 125 crore, over a period of five years. The total fund per year is estimated at Rs. 850 crore and the total administrative cost is estimated at Rs. 50 crore.
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