HC Deb 16 March 1899 vol 68 cc963-4
SIR W. WEDDERBURN (Banffshire)

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been drawn to a resolution of the Government of India in the Finance and Commerce Department No. 2587, of 9th June last, under which certain firms have been selected as qualified to tender for Government contracts in articles of steel and iron; whether he will state what public benefit is obtained by limiting the competition to these firms, and upon what evidence of special qualification the selection has been made; whether he is aware that among these selected firms not a single native firm is included; and, will he explain how this exclusion of native enterprise is held to be in accordance with the Standing Orders of the Government of India, published in 1883, which direct that, unless prices or quality compel another course, the preference shall invariably be given to Indian over European manufactures?

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON,) Middlesex, Ealing

The Resolution of the Government of India of the 9th June 1898, regarding the receipt of tenders in India for Government contracts for articles of steel and iron, was approved by me before its issue. It is a common practice for Government Departments to invite tenders only from firms as to whose competence and resources they have some reason to be satisfied; and the advantages of this course must, I think, be obvious. But in this case it is only for the present that the competition is limited to the firms specified, as it is expressly mentioned that the list is subject to revision from time to time. The Local Government were consulted as to the firms who were qualified to be placed on the list. I am unable to say whether any of the selected firms are composed wholly or partially of natives of India, but no racial disqualification of any kind has been imposed, and if there are native firms willing and competent to tender, there is nothing whatever to prevent them from being added to the list. The object of the Government is to purchase from producers direct, not to encourage middlemen. The policy of the Orders of 1883, in favour of the purchase of stores of local manufacturers when practicable, remains in full force, and has reference, not to any question of race distinctions, but to the capacity and location of the manufactories at which the required articles are produced.