Procrastination over Prudence: The ‘Customary’ Way in Public Procurement

This case describes a delay in the procurement of crawler dozers, a type of heavy earth-moving machinery, by a public sector undertaking of the Government of India in the mining sector. The chronology of events over 6 years highlights the underlying factors, including procrastination in initiating the procurement process, the time taken to prepare technical specifications, complaints from bidders and multiple-tiered queries. The most important learning outcome is that while arbitrary decisions are discouraged in any procurement, procrastination in decision-making should be equally discouraged. The case underlines the necessity of extensive, all-embracing standard operating procedures or definite guidelines.