Monday, August 26, 2013: The Indian government stated that it will not issue any notification under the Preferential Market Access (PMA) policy with respect to procurement in private sector unless the review of the policy is complete. This was said by Milind Deora, the Minister of State for Communications and IT in a written response to the upper house, Rajya Sabha. Earlier, it had issued notification under PMA policy for government procurement.
Deora added that various representations were received by the government in favour of as well as against the policy, particularly with respect to its applicability to electronic products with security implications.
As far as government procurement is concerned, the policy will be applicable to all the ministries and departments (except Defense) along with their agencies for electronics products procured for government purposes. Deora informed that under the PMA policy, Indian as well as foreign companies, who are manufacturing electronic products in India can enjoy the benefits stated under it.
“After considering the pros and cons of alternative approaches to handling security related products, the government has decided to review the policy,” said Milind Deora.“The extent of government procurement from domestic manufacturers shall not be less than 30 per cent of the total procurement value of notified electronic products,” Deora added, The Economic Times reported.
