Access, sales & scenarios

Selling to government

GeM, tenders, and the public-sector playbook.

All Beginner Intermediate Advanced

Everyone Aspiring Founder Idea-Stage Founder Builder Launcher Grower Indie Hacker Technical Solo Founder Non-Technical Founder Domain Expert Women Founder Anywhere Founder Repeat Founder

How do I actually sell to the government, where do I find the buyers? Two doors: GeM (gem.gov.in) for catalog-style buying of products and services, and the tender portals (eprocure.gov.in for ministries, plus defproc... Intermediate 3 resources → What is GeM and how do I get my product listed on it? GeM (Government e-Marketplace) is the Amazon of government buying, a Section 8 company under the Ministry of Commerce where 50,000+ government buye... Beginner 2 resources → How do government tenders and procurement actually work for a tiny startup? A tender (RFP/bid) is published on eprocure.gov.in or GeM with eligibility criteria, technical specs, and a bid deadline; you submit a technical bi... Intermediate 3 resources → Do I need certifications or empanelment to sell to a ministry? For GeM, no upfront empanelment, you register, complete vendor assessment for OEMs, and list. For tenders, the tender document itself dictates what... Intermediate 2 resources → I'm a DPIIT-recognised startup, what procurement relaxations do I actually get? DPIIT-recognised startups are exempted from the three biggest barriers: prior turnover, prior experience, and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD), on both ... Beginner 3 resources → Are there quotas or preferences that tilt tenders toward small players like me? Yes, the MSME Public Procurement Policy mandates every central ministry and PSU to source at least 25% of purchases from Micro and Small Enterprise... Intermediate 2 resources → Government pays slowly, how do I survive the cash-flow gap? Assume 60-180 day payment cycles and price for it, don't win a tender that bankrupts you on working capital. Use TReDS platforms (RXIL, Invoicemart... Advanced 2 resources → How do I turn one government pilot into a repeatable business? The GeM Startup Runway is built for exactly this, a 15-day product trial (or 8-16 week service trial) that, once rated by at least three government... Advanced 3 resources → Is selling to government even worth it for an early-stage startup? It's worth it if you can stomach long cycles and love reference-driven markets, a single ministry win is a logo that opens every other department, ... Beginner 3 resources → How do I actually price a bid so I win the tender but don't lose money on the contract? Most government tenders are L1 (lowest bid wins), so founders panic and quote below cost, then bleed for two years. Don't. Price to your true deliv... Intermediate 3 resources → What is an EMD and a performance bank guarantee, and how much cash will they lock up before I earn a rupee? Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) is the deposit you post just to be allowed to bid, and a Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) is the chunk (often 3 to 10 p... Intermediate 3 resources → The tender asks for three years of turnover and past government experience. I'm brand new. Do I just give up? No, but read the eligibility clauses like a lawyer before you spend a week writing the bid. Turnover and past-experience conditions kill more start... Beginner 3 resources → How do I write a tender bid that doesn't get thrown out on a technicality? Government bids are rejected on form, not merit: a missing self-attested page, wrong stamp, an unsigned annexure, an EMD in the wrong format. Treat... Intermediate 3 resources → Everyone says government sales run on connections and bribes. How do I sell clean and still win? You can win without paying anyone, and if a deal only closes with a bribe, walk, it will poison your cap table and your sleep. The clean edge is be... Beginner 3 resources → Is state government and municipal procurement easier to break into than central ministries? Usually yes for a first deal, and that's where most startups should start. State startup missions, smart-city SPVs, and municipal bodies buy faster... Intermediate 3 resources → What's the difference between selling to a PSU, a ministry, and a smart-city SPV, and does it change how I sell? Completely different buyers wearing the same government badge. A PSU (like BHEL or a bank) behaves more like a slow, procurement-heavy corporate wi... Advanced 3 resources → How do I find and read tenders before they close, without drowning in CPPP and a hundred state portals? Tender discovery is a real job, and missing the window is the default failure. The base layer is free: CPPP (eprocure.gov.in) for central, GeM for ... Beginner 3 resources → A government buyer wants me to run a free pilot or PoC. Should I say yes? Say yes only with a written scope, a fixed end date, and a named path to a paid tender if it works, otherwise you're donating engineering to an unf... Intermediate 3 resources → Do I need to manufacture in India or hit local-content rules to sell hardware or software to the government? Often yes, and it's frequently a hard gate, not a nice-to-have. The Make in India / Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) order and Clas... Advanced 3 resources → How do I keep a government contract for years and not lose it to the next L1 bidder at renewal? Winning is easy compared to renewing, because most govt contracts re-tender and a cheaper bidder can take your seat. Build switching cost the hones... Advanced 3 resources → Should I hire a liaison agent or consultant to handle government sales, or do it myself? Do the first deal yourself so you actually learn how the buyer thinks, then decide. A good consultant knows the portals, the paperwork, and which o... Intermediate 3 resources →

eChai Partner Brands