Andhra Goes Private to Streamline Buying

Andhra Pradesh has been on a drive to enhance the IT awareness in the state

for quite some time now. And in keeping with its efforts to increase the

efficiency of all its departments through faster and more transparent automated

procurement procedures, the Andhra Pradesh government has chosen C1 India to set

up an e-procurement market place for the state.

The transformation of Andhra Pradesh into a SMART state, is the brainchild of

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. "Our IT initiatives are steps in the

direction in which knowledge is central to progress," he said. "Our

vision is to transform the lives of all the citizens of Andhra Pradesh (AP) by

simplifying complex procedures and using IT as an instrument in bringing about

overall economic development. We are committed to providing simple, moral,

accountable and transparent governance. This new e-procurement initiative takes

us closer to this goal." he added.

Spread over three phases, the project will involve the implementation of

Commerce One’s (C1) eProcurement solution that will cater to all AP government

departments including local bodies such as municipal corporations along with

their vendors and co-operative sectors.

As part of this initiative, all the tenders floated by the government shall

be made available through the new system. The work involved would include

receiving online bids, evaluating them, awarding the order, monitoring the

contracts and placing purchase orders directly on the Internet. This would

eventually translate into making online payments.

J Satyanarayana, Principal Secretary, Information Technology &

Communication, Government of Andhra Pradesh, said, "Through this solution,

the government departments will be able to streamline their entire procurement

procedures. They will be able to reduce inventory costs, shorten the supply

chain, create a level playing field for the suppliers and leverage their buying

power within the suppliers thus ensuring better governance."

"We were looking for a customized eProcurement solution that would

utilize appropriate technologies and applications to meet our specific

requirements. We found Commerce One eProcurement marketplace solutions most

suited to our needs.

The total procurement of the AP government is around Rs 8000 crore. We

believe that in the next three years, the majority of this procurement shall

happen online through this new initiative across all the 150 departments of

Andhra Pradesh Govt." he added.

Vivek Agarwal, COO, C1 India, said, "We believe that the efforts of the

government of Andhra Pradesh will be an example to other progressive state

governments who are working towards better governance. We have won this project

after a very rigorous evaluation conducted by the govt. of Andhra Pradesh along

with PriceWaterhouse Coopers over a period of four months and we are proud to

have been selected as their partners in this effort. We customize the Commerce

One technology to suit individual requirements for best results."

Under the able leadership of Naidu, Andhra Pradesh has been the forerunner

amongst progressive states that have adopted IT as a means to ensure better

governance. This project is another exemplary initiative and forms part of AP

government’s vision 2020 programme.

ZIA ASKARI in Hyderabad