A missing link in the field of public procurement in India is an empirical sense of the magnitudes involved. In this paper we construct conservative estimates of basic facts about purchases by the union government and by central public sector enterprises. These calculations are based on fiscal statistics from the detailed demand for grants of union ministries and the annual statements published by the CGA. We obtain estimates of revenue, capital and total procurement in 2016-17. The estimated total purchases work out to about 11 to 12 per cent of GDP of that year. This suggests that a 10% improvement in purchasing capability would yield gains of about 1% of GDP.

The footprint of union government procurement in India, Anjali Sharma and Susan Thomas, XKDR Working Paper 10, November 2021