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NEW DELHI: Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu has asked states to emulate Centre’s model of giving preference to products manufactured under the Make in India initiative for public procurement to provide impetus to local manufacturing.Besides giving a “big boost to domestic manufacturing of goods and provision of supplies, it will also lead to growth in employment and income”, Prabhu wrote to all chief ministers earlier this week.Under the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, it was envisaged that all central government departments, their attached or subordinate offices and autonomous bodies controlled by the Centre should ensure purchase preference is given to domestic suppliers in government procurement.It also provides 20% margin of purchase preference, while the minimum local content required shall ordinarily be 50%.“As state governments/UTs and their companies, autonomous bodies, etc., also spend a significant amount on procurement of goods and services, similar policy measures at the state level can provide an additive thrust to the manufacturing sector in India, in line with the vision of 'Make of India',” Prabhu wrote.The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) had directed all departments last year to evolve an internal system of vetting the restrictive and discriminating terms against domestic manufacturers , especially included in the tenders they float with state governments.Procuring agencies of the Centre have to make sure that eligibility conditions on issues such as turnover, production capability and financial strength do not result in unreasonable exclusion of local suppliers who would otherwise be eligible.“In this regard, I would like to once again stress upon the need for undertaking similar policy measures at state level and formulate appropriate guidelines for providing preference to locally manufactured goods in public procurement to provide impetus to local manufacturing,” Prabhu said.