NEW DELHI: The government’s ‘India first’ policy for official procurement has ejected Chinese companies from pipeline projects worth Rs 3,000 crore being built by state-run Gail India Ltd, giving a big boost to domestic steel firms and carrying forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's ‘Make in India’ mission.Indian steel firms are poised to win orders worth tens of billions of dollars without losing business to Chinese supplies which they find suspiciously cheap.A spokesperson for Gail India said the guidelines for domestic preference are being imposed on all tenders that have not been opened so far. All future tenders will impose this condition.Government sources said that preference for Indian firms is likely to be extended beyond the steel and power sectors. The government is already studying more ways to give preference to Indian firms without violating international commitments, sources said.Steel minister Chaudhary Birender Singh told ET that all tenders from central and state governments as well as state firms, where the project is worth more than Rs 50 crore, will give preference to domestic firms unless the quality or quantity is not locally available, or if there is a 15% value addition in India.value addition in India. “This is a new and novel idea to see how we can increase consumption (of domestic steel). These guidelines will be incorporated in any tender in the future,” the minister told ET.He said state-run Gail India wanted to purchase pipes worth about Rs 3,000 crore, starting with orders of Rs 1,000 crore in the first phase.The steel minister said foreign firms were free and welcome to invest in India. “If there’s a transfer of technology, then we’d invite anybody to set up a plant in India. If he wants to set up the entire plant, he is welcome,” he said.The move comes as a big blow to China , where stateowned media has sharply criticised similar steps initiated by the minister for power, coal, renewable energy and mines, Piyush Goyal , in the power sector. Goyal had told ET last month that future projects will not be open for bidding by companies from countries that do not allow Indian firms to bid.Chinese state media has reacted strongly against the loss of business in India. Recently, Global Times, published by state-owned People’s Daily said debarring of Chinese firms in the power sector was new evidence of India’s “overly suspicious approach towards China”. It said the move could backfire because India’s power sector was marred by shortages.The power minister had told ET that business relations should be based on reciprocity – a concept lauded by a top executive of General Electric . However, Global Times said it would be difficult and costly for India to find proper replacement for goods and services offered by Beijing.Indian government officials and industry executives say Chinese firms should not be allowed in sectors where Indian firms are barred by Beijing. Indian executives also say China has a huge surplus capacity in steel which it wants to dump in India.Western companies, particularly those in the European Union , have also complained about a flood of Chinese imports, which they say are being dumped in their markets at the cost of local manufacturing and jobs.