Article · 10 min read

QCBS in Tenders: An MSME Guide to Scoring and Selection

Tata Nexarc editorial team · Tata Nexarc Blog Free Beginner India

This is the guide that tells you which tenders you can actually win on merit instead of on price. It lays out the QCBS 70:30 (and 80:20 / 60:40) technical-to-financial weight split, explains that if your technical score misses the cutoff (often 70/100) the buyer never even opens your price bid, and walks through the GeM/CPPP submission mechanics where mixing the technical and financial files gets you rejected with no do-over. Read it to spot the tenders where quality is scored, so you are not forced into an L1 race to the bottom.

  • QCBS scores technical proposal and price together (commonly 70:30), so a strong build can beat a cheaper competitor, unlike pure L1
  • Miss the technical cutoff and your financial bid is never opened, so the score sheet is the real spec to build against
  • On GeM and CPPP, putting technical and financial content in the wrong slot is an instant rejection with no correction window
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The question it answers

  1. How do I actually price a bid so I win the tender but don't lose money on the contract?

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