Public procurement, social justice and constitutional values in India: a bibliometric and legal analysis

Purpose This paper aims to examine how public procurement in India serves as a constitutional instrument of social justice instead of only as an administrative and economic tool. It addresses the gap in previous literature by combining empirical bibliometric analysis with doctrinal legal analysis. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses an interdisciplinary approach. It combines bibliometric analysis of global procurement studies with a doctrinal investigation of the constitutional and regulatory frameworks in India. Research trends have been surveyed using bibliometric techniques. Policy structures, judicial interpretations and constitutional principles pertinent to procurement in India were uncovered through doctrinal analysis. Findings The bibliometric analysis denotes that procurement studies have majorly focused on innovation, governance and sustainability. These previous studies rarely engage with constitutional value and distributive justice. Results from doctrinal analysis depict the absence of a unified procurement statute. Equality and non-arbitrariness used as constitutional principles pinpoint a strong normative foundation for India’s socially oriented procurement. But the effectiveness of doctrinal analysis is constrained by inadequate integration of social objectives, limited enforcement power and institutional fragmentation. Social implications Social and human rights provisions in government procurement is an effective instrument that governments can use to improve social justice, vulnerable groups and inclusive development. The research offers valuable information to policymakers, procurement practitioners and legal scholars in the effort to enhance legal frameworks and application systems especially in poorly institutionalised settings like India. Originality/value The paper makes a fresh interdisciplinary contribution by connecting bibliometric mapping with constitutional and doctrinal analysis. It promotes the understanding of procurement as a distributive governance tool. Insights from this research can be used for policies purposed on strengthening procurement systems in developing and post-colonial settings.