Identifying the procurement method for Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project.

(3) Under certain circumstances specified under these rules, the Procuring Entity may in addition to the two stages prescribed in sub-rule (1) issue a Request for Expression of Interest (REOI) or a Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) or both prior to the Request for Proposal (RFP).

5. Open Competitive Tendering with Request for Technical Proposal (RTP).

(1) Subject to the provisions of rule 4, in case of exceptionally complex Public Private Partnership (PPP) Projects, where the Procuring Entity seeks to assure itself that the Qualified Applicants completely understand its requirements, the Tender Inviting Authority may require that the Qualified Applicants to submit Technical Proposals prior to the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage.

(2) The Request for Technical Proposal stage shall be conducted as per the provisions of Chapter-V.

(3) In cases not covered under sub-rule (1), the Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) and Request for Proposal (RFP) stages shall be combined as per the provisions of rule 41.

Pre-submission Meeting.

(1) After issue of the Request for Qualification(RFQ) or Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) or Request for Proposal (RFP), as thecase may be, the Tender Inviting Authority may, at its discretion, organize one or more pre-submission meetings for the purpose of clarifying the queries and understanding the concerns of the Respondents.

(2) The Tender Inviting Authority shall consider comments and suggestions provided by the Respondents in the pre-submission meetings and, if required, revise the Tender Documents.

(3) The pre-submission meetings shall not be a substitute for any other manner of communication of queries by the Respondents.

(4) The Tender Inviting Authority shall maintain minutes and the list of attendees of the pre-submission meetings and circulate them to all attendees.

Request for Technical Proposal (RTP).

(1) Subject to the provisions of rule 5, where the Procuring Entity determines that a Request for Technical Proposals (RTP) should be made prior to the Request for Proposals, the Tender Inviting Authority shall issue a Request for Technical Proposals to all qualified applicants.

(2) The Request for Technical Proposals (RTP) shall involve a technical evaluation in the form of a pass or fail test, and only submissions that pass the minimum technical criteria will be invited to submit a Final Offer at the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage.

Explanation:- For the purpose of sub-rule (2), a pass or fail test would includes a test based on a marking system with a minimum score requirement.

(3) The Request for Technical Proposals (RTP) shall specify the Minimum Technical Requirements (MTR), formulated based on the Feasibility Study or detailed project study or such other study.

(4) The Minimum Technical Requirements (MTR) shall be a description of outcomes that are sought to be achieved and not necessarily the means by which they are to be achieved and to the extent possible the Minimum Technical Requirements (MTR) shall be technology and brand neutral.

(5) The Minimum Technical Requirements (MTR) shall necessarily include the following:

(a) description of the scope of the Project; which shall mean the physical facilities that need to be constructed, the capacity of each such facility or its component and related aspects;

(b) output specifications; which shall include a description of the target users, levels of service, quality standards and performance parameters;

(c) the design and safety codes or standards that the facility must comply to, including for management of social and environmental impacts;

(d) the operation requirements including the standards to be followed for operations of the facility and provision of service including standards for safety, security, labour relations, quality, monitoring, reporting and dissemination, service levels to be offered to customers including waiting times and standards for grievance redressal;

(e) maintenance requirements including the maintenance standards and schedule for compliance; and

(f) testing and performance monitoring requirements specifing the tests that would be carried out for performance monitoring and the key performance indicators that would be monitored.

(6) The Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) shall ordinarily require the Qualified Applicants to submit responses on the technical solution, business solution and financial plan for implementing the Project. The Procuring Entity shall define and document the specific requirements for Technical Proposal for each Project in the Request for Technical Proposal (RTP), which have not already been assessed at the Request for Qualification (RFQ) stage and shall ordinarily include:

(a) Basic information about the Qualified Applicant:

(i) Corporate information about the Qualified Applicant;

(ii) Constitutional documents of the Qualified Applicant;

(iii) Annual reports (if required);

(iv) Details about business activities including number of years of operation, certifications, tie ups and similar arrangements; and

(v) Any other documents considered relevant.

(b) Experience of the Applicant, relevant to the Project:

(i) Details of the project experience; and

(ii) Certificates and other documentation supporting the project experience;

(c) Approach and methodology for implementation of the Project, including:

(i) Understanding of the scope of work;

(ii) Technical solution proposed or the approach for implementation of the Project;

(iii) Activity plan and schedule;

(iv) Details of the facility or service proposed;

(v) Brief construction plan; and

(vi) Brief operations and maintenance plan;

(d) Business plan for implementation of the Project, including.-

(i) Organisation structure of the Concessionaire;

(ii) Marketing plan;

(iii) Environmental and social impact management plan;

(iv) Tie-ups and associations; and

(v) Identification of risks and risk management plan.

(e) Financial plan for implementation of the Project, including.-

(i) Sources of finances and their expected boundary conditions;

(ii) Plan for financial sustainability of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Project; and

(iii) Projected financial assessments and key assumptions.

(7) Each of the parameters shall be clearly defined for evaluation of the Technical Proposal and assigned a maximum score.

(8) The threshold or cut-off score for the pass or fail test based on Minimum Technical Requirements shall be pre-determined and specified in the Request for Technical Proposal (RTP).

Schedule of Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) .

(1) The followingminimum period shall be allowed by the Tender Inviting Authority while determining the schedule of the Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) stage:

(a) The due date shall not be less than 6 (six) weeks from the date of issue of the Request for Technical Proposal (RTP);

(b) Pre-submission meeting shall be held at least 3 (three) weeks before the due date;

(c) The clarifications on the queries of Qualified Applicants shall be issued not less than 1 (one) week before the due date; and

(d) Corrigenda or notifications of amendments in the Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) shall be issued not less than 1 (one) week before the due date.

(2) In exceptional cases, the Tender Inviting Authority may at the time ofissuing the Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) reduce the minimum time limits prescribed in sub-rule (1) for reasons to be recorded in writing and with the prior permission of the authority superior to the Tender Inviting Authority:

Provided that in no case shall the due date be advanced after the issue of invitation of the Request for Technical Proposal (RTP).

Provided further that in cases where the tender documents require the clearance of the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board under the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Act (Tamil Nadu Act 22 of 2012), such reduction of time would have to be specifically authorized by the Board.

Technical Evaluation.

(1) The submitted Technical Proposals shall be evaluated by the Tender Scrutiny and Evaluation Committee as per the criteria laid down in the Request for Technical Proposals (RTP).

(2) The Technical Proposals shall be evaluated on the basis of whether they achieve the minimum threshold or cut-off score specified in accordance with sub-rule (7) of rule 37.

Notification of passed Technical Proposals to Qualified Applicants.

(1) The Procuring Entity shall promptly notify each Qualified Applicant whether or not the Technical Proposal submitted by it has passed.

(2) Only Qualified Applicants whose Technical Proposals have passed shall be entitled to participate further in the Tender Proceedings.

Combining Request for Technical Proposal with Request for Proposal.

(1) For cases not covered under sub-rule (1) of rule 37 to optimize cost and effort when the Project does not merit a separate stage of Request for Technical Proposal (RTP), the Procuring Entity may combine the Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) stage with the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage to ensure price competition through adequate number of tenders.

(2) For cases covered under sub-rule (1), the Technical Proposal and the Final Offer shall be submitted in separate sealed envelopes.

(3) The Tender Inviting Authority shall open only the Technical Proposal for evaluation on the due date and time.

(4) The Technical Proposal shall be evaluated based on the technical parameters announced in the Request for Proposal (RFP) and list of technically qualified tenderers announced.

(5) The Final Offers of only the technically qualified tenderers shall be opened, after due intimation of the time and place of opening and evaluated.

(6) In the event that Request for Technical Proposal (RTP) stage is proposed to be combined with the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage, the Procuring Entity shall ensure that the relevant provisions of rule 37 are reflected in the Request for Proposal (RFP).