How to find and bid on Indian government machinery tenders

A practical guide to India's two main public procurement portals — GeM and CPPP — and what a UK or EU machinery exporter needs to know before bidding.

5 min read · updated 2026-08-04

The two portals

India's central-government procurement runs through two main portals. The Central Public Procurement Portal — CPPP, at eprocure.gov.in (s1) — publishes tenders from central ministries, departments, and public sector undertakings (PSUs). Tenders range from civil works and IT services to industrial machinery and plant equipment. The Government e-Marketplace — GeM, at gem.gov.in (s2) — is a catalogue-based platform designed for smaller-value purchases where registered suppliers list products and government buyers place orders directly, closer to an online marketplace than a formal tender process. For a machinery exporter, CPPP is where the larger capital-equipment tenders appear; GeM is relevant for spare parts, consumables, and smaller equipment listings.

How CPPP tenders work

A typical CPPP tender for machinery lists the organisation buying, the equipment specification, the estimated value, the earnest-money deposit (EMD) required, and the bid-submission deadline. Tenders are classified by category: "Goods" (supply of equipment), "Works" (turnkey design-build-supply-erect contracts, common for large installations like cranes or boilers), and "Services" (maintenance, consultancy, AMC). The tender document — downloadable from the portal — contains the detailed technical specification and bid conditions. Registration on the portal is required before you can submit a bid, and you will typically need an Indian entity or authorised representative to participate, since most tenders require a local address, a PAN (tax ID), and a GST registration.

What a machinery exporter should know before bidding

First, verify the tender is a genuine purchase (not an auction, disposal, or maintenance contract) and that your equipment matches the technical specification — tender documents for machinery can run to dozens of pages of engineering detail. Second, budget for the EMD (typically 1–5% of the estimated value, refundable if you are not selected) and a performance security if awarded. Third, factor in Indian customs duty and GST on the landed cost of your machine; the CPPP tender price is typically quoted on a delivered-to-site basis. Fourth, understand the payment terms — government contracts often pay in stages (advance, delivery, commissioning) and payment cycles can be measured in months. The CPPP portal's own help pages (s1) and GeM's seller-registration guide (s2) are the authoritative starting points for the current registration and bidding procedures.

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