IT Ministry to depts: Focus on local for cybersecurity needs

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has once again asked central government departments, public sector units (PSUs) and other government organisations to give preference to Made in India cybersecurity products, while procuring such products for official uses.

In an office memorandum sent earlier this month, the IT Ministry said that despite clear guidelines on public procurement policy for cybersecurity products, central ministries, PSUs and government agencies had been mentioning “restrictive and discriminatory” conditions like minimum turnover, need of certain global certifications, and Gartner quadrant as necessary conditions.

These conditions in government tenders, senior officials said, are considered restrictive and discriminatory as they discouraged small startups as well as local micro, small and medium enterprises from bidding.