The Congress party on Friday expressed serious apprehensions that Indian companies would henceforth be denied the privilege of non-competitive bidding for government-floated public contracts in the wake of India-UK Free Trade Agreement.

“But now, it appears that as part of the India-UK FTA, UK firms will be allowed to bid for public contracts floated by the Union government that would otherwise have been open only to Indian companies. Having opened this window, US companies also will be beneficiaries,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on his handle X.

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Under the India-UK Free Trade Agreement, UK firms will be granted access to bid for public contracts floated by the Union government, including around 40,000 tenders annually, valued at an estimated Rs 3,800 crore. This will allow UK businesses to compete for government procurement opportunities, but with some stipulations, particularly regarding “Make in India” policy and MSME preferences.

India recently signed a Free Trade Agreement with the UK, concluding the talks on May 6.

The agreement is seen as a “historic” deal by both countries. Additionally, India has also signed a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) on March 10.

“For over 30 years, India has stoutly resisted joining the WTO’s Agreement on Government Procurement. But now it appears that as part of the India-UK FTA, UK firms will be allowed to bid for public contracts floated by the Union government that would otherwise have been open only to Indian companies. Having opened this window, US companies also will be beneficiaries,” Mr Ramesh claimed.

Under the pact, UK businesses will be classified as Class II local suppliers if they have at least 20% UK content and would be granted preferential treatment in certain tenders.