A procurement process which ensures transparency and fairness in the selection process is the best type of procurement. Usually, a competitive and transparent procurement process will need to be adopted for the selection of the private partner for the project development. The procurement process can either be a single stage process or a two stage process.
A single stage process involves the issue of only RFP to the bidders who will make their submissions in response to it, whereas a two stage procurement process includes the issue of RFQ to all the interested parties in the beginning. The applications submitted in response to the RFQ are evaluated and the applicants are shortlisted on the basis of their eligibility (technical and financial capacity). RFP are issued to the shortlisted applicants who are required to submit their bids in response to the RFP. On evaluation of the bids, the private partner for the project is selected.
Various State Governments have well laid out procedures in terms of statutes, rules and guidelines to be followed with regard to the procurement of goods, services, consultants, works, etc. The procurement process usually culminates in a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) being issued to the bidder submitting the best bid (preferred bidder).