New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS): The Central government has barred companies from countries, which do not allow Indian companies to participate in their government procurement, from participating in any government procurement tenders in India.

In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that the Centre amended the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, 2017 on September 16, enabling nodal ministries, departments to notify higher minimum local content requirement for Class-I and Class-II local suppliers which was earlier fixed at 50 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.

"As per the Order, entities of countries which do not allow Indian companies to participate in their Government procurement for any item, shall not be allowed to participate in Government procurement in India for all items related to that nodal Ministry/Department, except for the list of items published by the Ministry/Department permitting their participation," it said.

Further, specifying foreign certifications, unreasonable technical specifications, brands or models in the bid document is a restrictive and discriminatory practice against local suppliers, it said. Foreign certification, if required, will be stipulated only with the approval of the Secretary of the department concerned.

It noted that all administrative ministries and departments whose procurement exceeds Rs 1,000 crore per annum shall notify their procurement projections for the next 5 years on their respective website.

An upper threshold value of procurement beyond which foreign companies shall enter into a joint venture with an Indian company to participate in government tenders shall be notified.