The GFR 2017 rules that decide how your tender is run
Every strange condition in a government tender comes from somewhere. Most of the time it comes from the General Financial Rules, 2017 — the rulebook central government departments buy under. It is a public document, it is amended regularly, and knowing five of its rule numbers changes the way you read a notice.
This is not the whole rulebook, and it is not the rules your tender is necessarily under: state governments, PSUs and municipal bodies have their own manuals, often modelled on the GFR but not identical. What follows is central government practice, with the rule numbers so you can check any of it yourself.
Rule 159 — why the tender exists in public at all
E-publishing is mandatory. Rule 159 requires all ministries and departments of the central government, their attached and subordinate offices, and autonomous and statutory bodies, to publish their tender enquiries, corrigenda to them, and the details of bid awards on what the rule now calls the GeM-Central Public Procurement Portal (GeM-CPPP) — the portal most contractors still know as CPPP or eProcure.
This is the rule that makes a site like this one possible, and it is the rule to point at when a notice seems to have appeared nowhere public.
It has one exception, and it is narrow: individual cases where confidentiality is required for reasons of national security. That exemption has to be approved by the Secretary of the ministry or department, with the concurrence of the Financial Adviser.
Note what else it requires — bid award details, not only the notice. In practice the award side is much harder to find on the portals than the notices are.
Rule 161 and Rule 162 — why some work is advertised and some is not
The value decides the method.
- Rule 161, Advertised Tender Enquiry. For goods of estimated value ₹50 lakh and above, the invitation should be advertised — subject to exceptions elsewhere in the rules.
- Rule 162, Limited Tender Enquiry. Where the estimated value is up to ₹50 lakh, the department may instead approach a limited set of suppliers directly.
That is why the smaller work in your district may never appear as a public advertisement: below the threshold, the department is entitled to ask a few firms rather than the world. Which is the practical argument for being on a department's own list of contractors — see contractor registration and class.
The GFR also recognises two-stage bidding, single tender enquiry, and electronic reverse auctions as methods of obtaining bids.
Rule 170 — bid security, and who does not pay it
Rule 170 is the EMD rule. Bid security, "also known as Earnest Money", is taken to guard against a bidder withdrawing or altering its bid during the bid validity period, in an advertised or limited tender enquiry.
And then the exception that is worth money to small firms: it is obtained from bidders except Micro and Small Enterprises as defined in the MSE procurement policy issued by the Ministry of MSME, or bidders registered with the purchase organisation.
If you are an MSE with a valid Udyam registration and a tender still demands EMD from you, that is a question worth raising in the pre-bid meeting — in writing, quoting this rule. The full picture, including how much and when it is forfeited, is in EMD in government tenders.
Rule 171 — performance security
Once you have won, Rule 171 governs the security you put up to ensure you actually perform the contract. It is taken from the successful bidder, and it is a different instrument from EMD with a different purpose, timeline and release condition. See performance security and bank guarantees.
Rule 149 — GeM, and why some demand never becomes a tender
Rule 149 makes buying through the Government e Marketplace mandatory for goods and services available on GeM. If what you sell is a GeM category, the order will usually be placed there rather than advertised as a tender. The purchase limits inside that rule are in the GeM portal explained.
Rule 175 — the code of integrity
Rule 175 binds both sides. No official of a procuring entity and no bidder may act in contravention of the code, which prohibits, among other things:
- offering, soliciting or accepting a bribe, reward, gift or any material benefit, directly or indirectly, to gain unfair advantage or otherwise influence the procurement process;
- any omission or misrepresentation that may mislead, so that a financial or other benefit is obtained or an obligation avoided;
- collusion, bid rigging or anti-competitive behaviour that damages the transparency and fairness of the process.
Two practical consequences. Ring arrangements among bidders are not merely frowned on; they are a named breach with consequences for your firm. And the code cuts both ways, which is what gives a complaint about an official's conduct something concrete to cite.
Reading the rules yourself
The consolidated GFR, updated to 31 January 2026, is a single PDF on the Department of Expenditure's website — linked in the sources below. The rules are amended by Office Memoranda through the year, and the amendment is often the part that matters: the GeM purchase limits, for instance, were raised in July 2024, and material written before that is now wrong. When a figure matters to your bid, check the current consolidated version rather than an article about it.
And the standing rule for everything here: the tender document you are bidding on governs. If it conflicts with general practice, the document wins, and the place to challenge it is the pre-bid meeting.