The Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017 - Notification of Telecom Products, Services, and Works establishes a list of telecom products, services, and works for which procurement preference is granted to domestic manufacturers. The telecom products and services covered under this Order include encryption systems, ethernet switches, IP-based soft switches, set-top boxes, and Wi-Fi-based broadband wireless access systems, among others. The local content requirements range between 30% and 70%. Annexure B of the Order outlines the conditions for inputs to qualify as local content, which include components such as integrated chips, active components, and cables, among others, that must be manufactured in India. The Order also stipulates that local suppliers must manufacture equipment from the component level in India and develop local vendors for procuring raw materials, components, and parts to enhance local content.

With the enactment of the Public Procurement (Make in India) Order 2018 for Cyber Security Products, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology underscored the strategic importance of cybersecurity. As a result, governmental entities are directed to prioritise the procurement of domestically manufactured cybersecurity products when tendering processes. A domestically manufactured cybersecurity product is defined as one where an Indian company owns the intellectual property (IP), and the company has the autonomy to distribute, modify, or commercialise the product without third-party consent. Additionally, products composed of multiple sub-components may also qualify as domestically manufactured cybersecurity products if at least 60% of the total product cost is attributed to local content and third-party licensing fees do not exceed 20% of the total product cost.
Additionally, the Public Procurement (Make in India) Order 2019 for Cyber Security Products granted preferential treatment to companies incorporated and registered in India or to startup firms meeting the criteria set by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), provided that revenue from the product and IP licensing is accrued within India. The scope of cybersecurity products covered by these notifications includes anti-virus software, cloud security solutions, mobile security applications, firewalls, OTP gateways, encryption services, and others. A comprehensive list of products can be found in the Public Procurement (Make in India) Order 2019 for Cyber Security Products.

The Policy for Providing Preference to Domestically Manufactured Electronic Products in Government Procurement (PMA) mandates that domestically manufactured equipment be prioritised in both government procurement and select private sector procurement activities. The policy stipulates that each ministry or department must meet a minimum percentage of their demand for electronic products with locally manufactured goods that comply with the prescribed minimum value addition requirements for each item. This policy aligns with India’s broader objectives to enhance domestic manufacturing capacity and safeguard the security of its telecommunications infrastructure.
According to the 2015 Guidelines on the implementation of this policy, the minimum threshold for domestic procurement of any electronic product is set at 30%. Additionally, the rate of total procurement value accorded preference for domestically manufactured electronic products should be determined in a manner that encourages domestic manufacturing while maximising competition.
In addition, the Guidelines list the electronic products subject to this policy, including but not limited to notebooks, tablets, desktop PCs, servers, printers, keyboards, monitors, USB devices, ATMs, photocopiers, scanners, faxes, smartcards, mobile handsets, handheld terminals, PC projectors, and POS-based services. Telecom products under the Guidelines include SIM cards, encryption platforms, leased line network equipment, WiFi access systems, among others.

M/s ITI Limited (a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Telecommunications) has a reservation quota for procurements made by three state-owned telecommunications companies (BSNL, BBNL and MTNL). The reservation quota for M/s ITI Ltd. in procurements began on September 21, 2013. It was initially extended in November 2018 for three years, maintaining a 30% reservation threshold, with value addition requirements of 12% in 2018-19, 16% in 2019-20, and 20% in 2020-21. The policy has been subject to periodic reviews, with the latest extension in 2024 continuing beyond the initial three-year period.

Under the E-mail Policy of the Government of India (GoI), the use of private email platforms, such as Gmail or Outlook, for official communication is strictly prohibited across all government organisations. Employees are mandated to transition to the email services provided by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and must exclusively utilise these official email services for all governmental correspondence. Furthermore, government employees are prohibited from sharing their official email account credentials with private email service providers.
Each employee of the Central Government, as well as those in state or Union Territory (UT) governments, is assigned two email accounts: one linked to their official designation for exclusive use in professional communications and the other, based on their name, which may be used for both professional and personal purposes.

In May 2015, the Indian Ministry of Finance issued the Customs Notification imposing this definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of electronic calculators (HS 847010, 390720) from China. This measure was reviewed and extended in May 2020. The rate of duty is USD 0.28 or USD 1.22 per unit, depending on the company. The duty is in force for a period of five years.

It is reported that India lacks a comprehensive public procurement policy, leading to an inconsistent and non-transparent public procurement process.

In June 2020, the Indian Ministry of Finance imposed a definitive duty on imports of electronic calculators (HS 847010, 390720) from Malaysia. The duty amounts to 0.92 USD per item. The duty is in force for a period of five years.

India is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the agreement since 2010.

In April 2015, the Indian Ministry of Finance issued the Customs Notification imposing this definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of electrical insulators (HS 8546) originating in China. Electrical insulators are used to hold conductors in position, separating them from one another and from surrounding structures. This measure was reviewed and extended in April 2020. The rate of duty is USD 638 or USD 1,383 per tonne, depending on the company. The duty is in force for a period of five years.

As stipulated in Section 5.2.7.2 of the 2020 Consolidated Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy Circular, foreign direct investment in broadcasting content services, specifically related to the uploading and streaming of news and current affairs via digital media, is limited to 26% and is subject to government approval.

Under Article 161 of the General Financial Rules, as amended by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance OM F.12/17/2019-PPD in May 2020, if a Ministry or Department determines that domestically available goods may not meet the required quality or specifications, and there is a need to seek competitive bids from abroad, they may distribute copies of the tender notice to Indian embassies abroad and foreign embassies in India. The selection of relevant embassies is based on the likelihood of sourcing the required goods from the respective countries. However, a Global Tender Enquiry (GTE) is prohibited for tenders valued at or below 200 million rupees (approximately USD 24 million). In cases where a GTE is deemed necessary for tenders below this threshold due to special circumstances, a detailed justification must be provided, and prior approval for an exemption must be sought from the Competent Authority designated by the Department of Expenditure.

Since the implementation of the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular of 2016, last amended by the Consolidated FD) Policy Circular of 2020, India permits fully owned FDI in business-to-business (“marketplace-based”) electronic commerce, i.e. "providing an information technology platform by an e-commerce entity on a digital & electronic network to act as a facilitator between buyer and seller." However, India prohibits foreign investment in business-to-consumer (or “inventory-based”) electronic commerce, also defined as "e-commerce activity where the inventory of goods and services is owned by an e-commerce entity and is sold to the consumers directly".
When a marketplace e-commerce entity exercises ownership or control over the inventory, the business is categorised into the inventory-based model. Additionally, India implemented regulations that expressly prohibit subsidiaries of foreign-owned marketplace-based electronic commerce sites from selling products on their parent companies’ sites. The rules also prohibit exclusivity arrangements by which electronic commerce retailers can offer a product on an exclusive basis.
The only exceptions for FDI in inventory-based electronic commerce are for food-product retailing and single-brand retailers that meet certain conditions, including the operation of physical stores in India. According to Section 5.2.15.3 of the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular of 2020, retail trading through e-commerce can also be undertaken before opening physical stores, subject to the entity opening physical stores within two years from the start of online retail. Overall, it is reported that these narrow exceptions limit the ability of many electronic commerce service suppliers to serve the Indian market.

According to Art. 3B of the Internal Trade (DPIIT) Order No. P-45021/2/2017-B.E, if the procurement authority has determined that sufficient local capacity and competition exist, only 'Class-I Local Suppliers' are eligible to participate, ensuring that all selected suppliers fall within this category. As stipulated in the Order, a 'Class-I Local Supplier' is defined as a supplier whose local content comprises at least 50%.

The Indian government adopted a formal preference for open-source software for e-government procurement opportunities related to its digital agenda. The Policy on Adoption of Open Source Software for the Government of India is reported to be one of the most far-reaching and restrictive preference schemes that has been implemented to date. The Policy calls for a change from using Closed Cloud Software (CSS), which is licensed under the exclusive right of the copyright holder. The Indian government wants all governmental organisations to move towards the use of open-source software, which it argues would ensure strategic control of eGovernance applications and reduce the cost of ownership of projects. The Framework for adoption of Open Source Software in eGovernance applications provides a set of procedures and recommendations for promoting, adopting and managing OSS in e-Governance systems. The framework provides guidance on the selection of software and the induction of the OSS software.