Letter of Invitation
New Delhi
13-03-2024
Dear Mr./Ms.:

1. The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) (hereinafter called “Client”) has been designated as the Program Management Unit (PMU) by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) towards managing the CITIIS (City Investments To Innovate, Integrate and Sustain) program. The Client intends to apply a portion of the funds to eligible payments under the contract for which this Request for Proposal (RFP) is issued.

2. The NIUA now invites proposals from Consultants through an open RFP to provide the following consulting Services: Development of Communication Protocol Document for managing engagements of Women SHGs (Jalasathis and Swachha Saathis) for Odisha under CITIIS Program. More details on the Services are provided in the Terms of Reference (TOR).

3. A Consultant shall be selected under the selection method based on Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) with a ceiling amount of INR 40,00,000/- (Forty Lakhs) (including all taxes). The proposal selected will be the one that obtains the highest technical / financial weighted score. The weightings would be 80% for the technical score and 20 % for the financial score. The minimum qualifying technical score will be 70 out of 100. Non-compliant or inadequate technical proposals (i.e. scored below minimum technical score of 70) will be rejected. The Financial Bids exceeding the ceiling amount will be rejected and will not be considered in the evaluation. Additional details are provided in the Section III: Evaluation and Qualification of this RFP Document.

4. The time period for this assignment shall be Three (3) Months (or any other period as may be subsequently agreed by the parties in writing).
5. The RFP includes the following documents:
 Section I Instructions to Consultants (ITC)
 Section II – Data Sheet
 Section III – Technical Proposal – Standard Forms
 Section IV – Financial Proposal – Standard Form
 Section V – Eligibility Criteria
 Section VI – AFD's Policy – Corrupt and fraudulent practices – Social and Environmental Responsibility
 Section VII Terms of Reference (TORs)
 Section VIII – Conditions of Contract and Contract forms
6. The RFP shall be e-published on the NIUA website and Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) and is free of cost for download. Bid Security / Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) is not required for the submission of the proposal. It is not permissible to transfer this invitation to any other firm.
7. The Consultant has to ensure that the physical copy of her/his proposal is page numbered. After scanning the page numbered physical copy, the soft copy of the Technical Proposal is e-mailed at citiis@niua.org. The soft copy of the Technical Proposal must not include Financial Proposal. The physical copy of the Technical Proposal is properly bound. The main envelope of physical copy of the proposal to be submitted at the NIUA Office shall comprise the following two envelopes : 1st Inner Envelope with the Technical Proposal and 2nd Inner Envelope with the Financial Proposal. Each envelope should be written ‘RFP for Development of Communication Protocol Document for managing engagements of Women SHGs (Jalasathis and Swachha Saathis) for Odisha under CITIIS Program’. The contact details of the Consultant like name, address, mobile number and e-mail ID should be clearly mentioned on each envelope.
8. Your proposal shall comprise your Proposal Submission Form including Power of Attorney, Technical Proposal, Financial Proposal inclusive of all taxes and the signed Statement of Integrity, and must be received at the following address via physical copy to National Institute of Urban Affairs, Core 4B, 1st Floor, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi-110003 by 10-04-2024, 17:00 hr IST.
9. Any queries in relation to the RFP to be sent prior to 26-03-2024, 17:00 hr IST at the mail ID citiis@niua.org and the responses will be available online by 02-04-2024.
10. To substantiate their credentials and to respond to any queries, the Consultants may be asked to make a presentation of their Technical Proposal, during the technical evaluation stage.
11. The issue of the RFP does not imply that the NIUA is bound to select bid(s), and it reserves the right without assigning any reason to
i. reject any or all of the bids, or
ii. cancel the tender process; or
iii. abandon the procurement process; or
iv. issue another bid for identical or similar work

Yours sincerely,

Director
National Institute of Urban Affairs