Questions people ask before they bid

Find the tender on the official portal (GeM, CPPP/eProcure or your state's portal), register as a bidder there, and get a Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate in your firm's name. Download the tender document, prepare the technical and financial bids exactly as the document specifies, pay the EMD, then upload and submit online before the closing date and time. Bids are almost always online-only now — a physical submission is rare and the tender document will say so explicitly if it applies.

EMD is the Earnest Money Deposit — a refundable amount you submit with your bid to show you are serious. It is typically 1% to 3% of the estimated tender value, though the tender document is the only authority on the exact figure. It is returned to unsuccessful bidders after the tender is decided, and to the winner once the performance security is furnished. Many tenders exempt MSMEs registered under Udyam from paying EMD at all.

Yes. Indian government e-procurement portals require a Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate to submit a bid. It must be issued in the name of the person authorised to sign for your firm. You buy it from a licensed Certifying Authority, it usually takes a day or two, and it is valid for one to three years. Without a valid DSC you can browse and download tenders but cannot submit one.

The tender document is the only authoritative list, and it varies by tender. In practice most ask for: PAN and GST registration, firm registration or incorporation proof, audited financials or turnover certificate for the last three years, Udyam/MSME certificate if you are claiming that benefit, past work-completion certificates of similar scope, a solvency certificate from your bank, EMD proof, and a signed no-deviation or acceptance declaration. Always work from the actual document rather than a general checklist.

GeM (Government e Marketplace) is a purchasing marketplace for goods and services with published catalogues, and much of it runs as a reverse auction where sellers compete on price. CPPP (the Central Public Procurement Portal, eprocure.gov.in) hosts formal tender notices, largely for works and larger contracts, using the GePNIC system that most state portals also run. Broadly: GeM for supplying goods and standard services, CPPP and state portals for construction and project work.

Yes, but read the eligibility clause first. Many tenders set a minimum annual turnover and require past experience on work of similar nature and value, which a new firm cannot meet. Plenty of smaller tenders carry no such condition, and government policy reserves a share of procurement for MSMEs and gives startups relaxations on turnover and prior-experience requirements. The practical route is to start with tenders whose eligibility you genuinely meet and build a record of completion certificates.

There is no single figure — it is set per tender, and is commonly around 30% to 100% of the estimated contract value as average annual turnover over the last three years. A ₹50 lakh tender might ask for ₹15–50 lakh. The tender document states the exact requirement, and it is a hard filter: bids from firms that do not meet it are rejected at technical evaluation regardless of price.

Under the Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises, registered MSEs are commonly exempt from EMD and tender-document fees, and are often relaxed on prior-turnover and experience conditions. Central ministries and PSUs also have a mandated share of annual procurement from MSEs, with sub-targets for SC/ST and women-owned enterprises. You need a valid Udyam registration to claim any of it, and you must claim it in the bid — it is not applied automatically.

It depends on the tender. Many carry a tender-document fee of a few hundred to a few thousand rupees, paid online on the portal; many others, particularly on GeM, are free. Registered MSEs are frequently exempt. The fee, if any, is stated on the tender notice, and it is separate from the EMD.

Bidrove is a free Indian government tender discovery platform for MSMEs, contractors and small businesses. It collects live tenders from official government e-procurement portals and, for each tender, shows eligibility, an automatic cost and profit estimate, required documents, deadlines, EMD and a step-by-step bidding guide.

Yes. Searching and finding tenders is free, and you can view and act on smaller tenders (up to ₹2 Lakh) at no cost. Every plan — including Free — gets the AI bid advisor, and eligibility details wherever the tender document lists them; paid plans add email alerts and unlock larger contracts and all GeM tenders. You pay more only as the contract value you access grows.

Bidrove aggregates Indian government tenders from the national CPPP / GePNIC portal (eprocure.gov.in) and multiple state e-procurement portals, across categories like construction, roads, water and sewerage, electrical, healthcare, IT, supply and cleaning.

Where the tender document publishes them, the tender page lists the eligibility conditions — contractor class, similar-work experience, turnover and registrations — in plain language, so you can see at a glance whether you qualify. Many portals publish the criteria only inside the bid document; when that happens we show the portal's own listing and link you straight to it rather than inventing a checklist.

Bidrove uses a cost model based on typical cost ratios for the tender's category, adjusted by a state cost index, to estimate the cost to execute, the likely profit and the margin. It also suggests a recommended L1 (lowest-viable-wins) bid price and a breakdown of where every rupee of the contract goes. These are estimates to start from, not a quote.

There is a free plan, and paid plans (Growth, Professional and Enterprise) that unlock progressively larger contract values plus AI bidding tools. You can see current pricing on the pricing page.

Yes. It is built for MSMEs and first-time bidders — it explains EMD, documents and deadlines in plain language, checks eligibility for you, and gives a step-by-step guide to submitting a bid, so you don't need prior tendering experience.

Yes. You can save tenders to a wishlist and get deadline reminders, and the tender list refreshes regularly as new government tenders are published.

Bidrove focuses on being beginner-friendly and India-first: free discovery, plain-language eligibility, automatic profit and cost estimates, a recommended bid price, and a mobile-friendly experience that works on slower connections — instead of just a long list of tenders.

It's the size of contract each plan lets you access — up to ₹2 Lakh on Free, ₹25 Lakh on Growth, ₹5 Crore on Professional, and unlimited on Enterprise. The full AI toolkit is on every plan; only the size of tender you can chase grows.

You'll still see it in the list with its value masked and an upgrade prompt — so you always know what's out there. Upgrading unlocks larger contracts instantly, and you can downgrade again whenever you like.

Yes — upgrade, downgrade or cancel whenever you like. Yearly billing saves 10%, and Free never needs a card.