Mission

Ensure transparency and integrity in public procurement processes across various sectors in India

Activities

Integrity Pacts have been applied to oversee various levels of public procurement in India since 2006. In that year, the Indian Oil and Natural Gas Corporation implemented the first Integrity Pact in India. In the same year, the Indian Ministry of Defence adopted the Defence Procurement Procedure made the use of an Integrity Pact mandatory for all defence procurement above USD 15 Million.

In 2007, India’s Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) adopted a circular recommending the use of IPs in all major procurement of Public Service Undertakings (PSUs).

In 2009, the Prime Minister also recommended the use of Integrity Pacts to oversee public procurement and the CVC issued Standard Operating Procedures for the use of IPs for the first time.

By 2011, several municipalities in India began to use Integrity Pacts. In the same year, additional regulations were adopted by the Ministry of Finance and Government of India expanding the use of Integrity Pacts.

In 2015, the CVC issued an order requiring the use of Integrity Pacts by public sector banks, insurance companies and financial institutions. In 2017, the CVC issued its latest version of the Integrity Pact Standard Operating Procedures.

As of 2015, Transparency International India estimated that over 95 state-owned enterprises and several municipalities had adopted IPs to oversee their public procurement. Around half of the SOEs had entered some arrangement, or Memorandum of Understanding, with Transparency International India for their assistance with the Integrity Pact. Where Transparency International India is not involved, the PSUs must appoint independent external monitors who are vetted by the CVC and who are individuals of upstanding moral integrity.

Transparency International India and others have observed both important contributions that the use of Integrity Pacts has made to public procurement practices in India, as well as numerous limitations to the Integrity Pacts. Any number of sample Integrity Pacts in a wide range of industry sectors can be easily found online.