Consortia & Tender Marketing Scheme

What is the Consortia & Tender Marketing Scheme?

The Consortia & Tender Marketing Scheme is a marketing-support scheme run by the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. It exists to solve a very specific problem faced by Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs): government departments and public sector undertakings often float tenders for quantities far larger than any one small unit can supply, and demand credentials and financial capacity a small unit cannot show on its own.

According to NSIC, the corporation addresses this by forming a consortium of several MSEs that make the same or similar products, and then bidding for such bulk tenders in NSIC's own name, backed by the pooled capacity of the member units. When the tender is awarded, the order is distributed among the consortium members. On NSIC's current website the scheme is presented under its Marketing Facilitation Scheme, which carries forward the consortia and tender-marketing functions.

The scheme is not a cash benefit. Its value is that a small unit gains access to large institutional orders, and to NSIC's tender intelligence, bidding capacity and credibility, which it could not command alone.

Who is eligible for the Consortia & Tender Marketing Scheme?

You can enrol if:

• Your enterprise is a Micro or Small Enterprise with valid Udyam Registration.
• You are engaged in manufacturing or provide services with value addition.
• You are, or are willing to become, registered under NSIC's Single Point Registration Scheme (SPRS), and your unit passes NSIC's inspection.

You cannot enrol / are not eligible if:

• You are purely a trader with no manufacturing, value addition, packing or branding.
• You are an individual seeking a personal cash benefit — this is a scheme for enterprises selling to the government, not a citizen welfare payment.
• Your unit is blacklisted or otherwise barred from government procurement.

How does the scheme work?

According to NSIC, the tender-marketing process runs roughly as follows:

• NSIC continuously scans tenders issued by central and state government bodies, PSUs, local bodies and reputed private buyers.
• For a suitable tender, NSIC assembles a consortium of enrolled MSEs whose combined capacity meets the tendered quantity and specification.
• NSIC submits the bid on behalf of the consortium, using its own turnover and standing to satisfy eligibility conditions the small members cannot meet.
• On winning, NSIC allocates the supply among the consortium members and coordinates delivery, invoicing and payment.

This lets a group of small units collectively service a large order while each supplies only the share it can handle.

What are the benefits and costs?

Benefits

• Access to bulk government and PSU tenders otherwise out of reach.
• Bidding done in NSIC's name and credit, overcoming turnover and experience barriers.
• Collective bidding through a consortium, sharing both the order and the risk.
• A neutral facilitator (NSIC) coordinating the tender, with no private middleman.

Costs (as listed on the NSIC portal)

SC/ST entrepreneurs are exempt from the enrolment fee, and there is no separate fee for forming the consortium. In addition, NSIC recovers a service charge as a percentage of the value of orders marketed through it, collected in instalments as the supply is executed.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Consortia & Tender Marketing Scheme

1. Register under SPRS / Udyam if you have not already, so your Micro or Small Enterprise status and item list are on record with NSIC.
2. Approach your nearest NSIC branch office (locatable through the branch finder on nsic.co.in) and ask to enrol under the consortia and tender-marketing / Marketing Facilitation Scheme.
3. Submit the enrolment form with your product profile and documents, and allow NSIC to complete the unit inspection.
4. Pay the annual enrolment fee for your monetary-limit slab (SC/ST entrepreneurs are exempt).
5. Once enrolled, NSIC includes your unit in consortia for matching tenders and informs you when your capacity is needed for a bid.

Who to contact

The scheme is delivered through NSIC's branch and zonal offices, which handle enrolment, consortium formation and tender coordination. Prospective members should contact the servicing NSIC branch listed on nsic.co.in. As this is a facilitation scheme for enterprises rather than an individual benefit, there is no citizen helpline; the branch that enrols the unit is the point of contact for all queries.

How to check your application status

There is no online status-tracking portal for enrolment or consortium bids under this scheme, since the process runs through the servicing NSIC branch rather than a centralised web dashboard. To check where things stand:

1. Enrolment stage. After submitting your enrolment form and product profile, follow up with the same NSIC branch office that received your application. Ask specifically whether the factory inspection has been scheduled or completed, since enrolment is not finalised until the inspection report is on file.
2. Fee and confirmation. Once the inspection is cleared, the branch will ask you to pay the annual enrolment fee for your monetary-limit slab. Keep the payment receipt; it is your proof of active enrolment.
3. Consortium and tender stage. After enrolment, there is no fixed schedule for when your unit will be placed into a consortium. NSIC contacts enrolled units directly when a tender matching their product and capacity comes up, so a lack of contact does not mean anything has gone wrong. To check proactively, call or visit the branch and ask whether any tenders matching your registered product profile are currently being assembled.
4. Locate the right branch. If you are unsure which office is handling your file, use the branch search on nsic.co.in (nsic.co.in/Corporate/SearchBranch) to find the nearest NSIC office and its contact details, and quote your enrolment/SPRS reference number when you call.
5. Escalation. If a branch is unresponsive for an extended period, raise the matter with the NSIC zonal office that the branch reports to, since branch-level facilitation schemes are supervised zonally.

Because this is a business facilitation service rather than a citizen welfare payment, there is no SMS alert system or applicant login; status updates depend on direct contact with the branch handling your enrolment.

Common reasons for rejection

Enrolment or participation under the Consortia & Tender Marketing Scheme can be declined or deferred for reasons specific to how NSIC vets manufacturing capacity, not generic paperwork errors:

• Unit found to be purely trading, not manufacturing. NSIC's factory inspection checks for actual production or value-addition activity. A unit that only repackages, labels or resells finished goods bought from elsewhere will fail inspection, since the scheme exists to market genuine manufacturing capacity. Fix: apply only if your unit does real manufacturing, processing, assembly or service value-addition, and be ready to show the production line during inspection.
• No valid Udyam Registration, or mismatched details. If the Udyam certificate is missing, expired in NSIC's records, or shows a different product category or investment slab than what is declared in the enrolment form, the file gets held up. Fix: keep Udyam Registration current and ensure the product/activity listed there matches what you declare to NSIC.
• Factory inspection fails on capacity or quality grounds. NSIC inspects the unit before enrolment to confirm it can actually deliver the quantities and specifications it claims. Inadequate machinery, insufficient production capacity, or a unit that appears non-operational at the time of inspection leads to rejection. Fix: ensure the unit is fully operational and staffed on the day of inspection, and only claim a production capacity you can demonstrate.
• Unit is blacklisted or under a procurement debarment. Any enterprise currently blacklisted by a government department, PSU or NSIC itself for past contract defaults is barred from enrolment regardless of its manufacturing credentials. Fix: resolve or wait out any existing blacklisting/debarment before reapplying; this cannot be worked around at the branch level.
• Fee not paid, or SC/ST exemption claimed without proof. Enrolment is only confirmed after the annual fee for the applicable monetary-limit slab is paid. Where an SC/ST entrepreneur claims the fee exemption without submitting the required caste/community proof for the promoter, the exemption is refused and the standard fee is applied instead. Fix: pay the correct slab fee promptly, or submit valid SC/ST proof of the entrepreneur at the time of claiming exemption.
• Incomplete or vague product profile. Applications with a generic or incomplete description of the items or services the unit can supply make it harder for NSIC to match the unit to a suitable consortium, and can result in the enrolment being sent back for more detail. Fix: list specific products, specifications and monthly production capacity rather than broad categories.
• No tender allocation despite enrolment. This is not a rejection of the application itself, but a common source of complaints: enrolment does not guarantee inclusion in a consortium, since that depends entirely on whether a matching tender comes up for the unit's specific product line. Fix: there is no appeal for this; units in narrow or low-demand product categories may simply see fewer or no tender opportunities over time.