Maharashtra Strengthening Institutional Capabilities in Districts for Enabling Growth: Selection of Consultancy Services Package D (Division – Aurangabad) to support DSUs

NOTICE AT-A-GLANCE

Project ID: P181463

Project Title: Maharashtra Strengthening Institutional Capabilities in Districts for Enabling Growth

Country: India

Notice No: OP00306578

Notice Type: Request for Expression of Interest

Notice Status: Published

Borrower Bid Reference: IN-MITRA-444341-CS-QCBS

Procurement Method: Quality And Cost-Based Selection

Language of Notice: English

Submission Deadline Date/Time: Aug 26, 2024 17:00

Published Date: 21-Aug-2024

Description: Selection of Consultancy Services Package D (Division – Aurangabad) to support DSUs

Details:

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (CONSULTING SERVICES – FIRMS SELECTION)

Maharashtra Strengthening Institutional Capabilities in Districts for Enabling Growth (MahaSTRIDE) Operation

Tender Notice No.: MITRA/C.R. 76/2024

COUNTRY: INDIA

NAME OF PROJECT: Maharashtra Strengthening Institutional Capabilities in Districts for Enabling Growth (MahaSTRIDE)

Loan No./Credit No./ Grant No.: Yet to be received.

Assignment Title: Hiring Implementation Resources in District Strategic Unit for realizing of District Strategic Plan, PM Gatishakti, PM LiFE and recommendations of Economic Advisory Council (EAC) across districts by leveraging technology to achieve Maharashtra's $ 1 Trillion economic target by FY'28

Market Approach: International Competitive Procurement

Date of Issue: 09/08/2024

Consultancy Services Package A (Division – Konkan) Consultancy Services Package B (Division – Pune) Consultancy Services Package C (Division – Nashik) Consultancy Services Package D (Division – Aurangabad) Consultancy Services Package E (Division – Nagpur) Consultancy Services Package F (Division – Amravati)

Background:

The Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) has applied for financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the implementing Maharashtra Strengthening Institutional Capabilities in Districts for Enabling Growth (MahaSTRIDE), and intends to apply part of the proceeds for procurement of consultancy services titled “ Hiring Implementation Resources in District Strategic Unit for realizing of District Strategic Plan, PM Gatishakti, PM LiFE and recommendations of Economic Advisory Council (EAC) across districts by leveraging technology to achieve Maharashtra's $ 1 Trillion economic target by FY'28” for MahaSTRIDE”.

The Maharashtra Strengthening Institutional Capabilities in Districts for Enabling Growth (“MahaSTRIDE”) operation aims to support the implementation of the One-Trillion Dollar (OTD) vision by addressing three challenges:

1. districts face capability gaps that constrain planning, convergence, and coordination for driving growth,
2. gaps in data availability hamper evidence-based decision-making, and
3. the delivery of government services for enabling private capital mobilization needs strengthening.

The services would require setting up support ecosystem in divisions and districts for implementation of key initiatives related to EAC recommendation driven District Strategy Plan, PM Gati Shakti, PM LiFE initiate and evidence-based policy and planning tool.

The consultants will be contracted to support the districts for a period of 5 years. The contract will be initially awarded for 3 years. It will be reviewed at the end of 3 years to assess the satisfactory performance before extending it for the next 2 years. The contract is expected to start by November 2024.

The total resource requirements for the DSUs have been split into six packages based on the revenue divisions of Maharashtra. Implementation resources shall be hired under each package to support the DSUs in the districts of the respective divisions, including an additional deployment at the divisional headquarters. This is a common REOI for all six packages which will conclude with six shortlists of consultants – one shortlist for each package. Each package will have a maximum shortlist of 8 consultants. In case of more than 8 consultants, the shortlist will be based on higher turnover. The follow-on RFPs would be issued separately for each Package. Listed here are the six packages:

1. 1. Consultancy Services Package A (Division – Konkan)
   2. Consultancy Services Package B (Division – Pune)
   3. Consultancy Services Package C (Division – Nashik)
   4. Consultancy Services Package D (Division – Aurangabad)
   5. Consultancy Services Package E (Division – Nagpur)
   6. Consultancy Services Package F (Division – Amravati)

The Maharashtra Institution for Transformation now invites eligible consulting firms (“Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the Services mentioned in the TOR. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services.

Instructions to Interested Consultants

The Expression of Interest is to be submitted in the manner prescribed below:-

All information as detailed below is to be submitted in soft copies separately for each of the Package. The Formats are annexed to this document.

1. Applicant’s Expression of Interest as per Format-1.
2. Organizational Contact Details of Single Entity and in case of JV applicant as per Format-2.

1. Financial strength of the applicant as per Format-3.
2. Experience of the applicant as per Format-4.
3. Additional information as per Format-5.
4. Consortium Agreement as per Format – 6.
5. Power of Attorney in favour of Authorized Signatory with long and short signatures of Authorized person.

The Consultants are expected to examine all instructions, forms, terms and other details in the REOI document carefully. Failure to furnish complete information as mentioned in the REOI document or submission of an Expression of Interest not substantially responsive to the REOI documents in every respect will be at the Consultant’s risk and may result in rejection of the same.

Shortlisting Criteria:

Each EOI would be evaluated against the following Short-listing Criteria. The shortlisting criterion is mentioned below and shall be applicable for each of the 06 (six) packages. The requirement indicated at Sl. No. (2) (Financial Stability) and Sl. No. (5) (Resource Strength) shall be ascertained based on cumulative requirement based on number of packages that a Consultant intends to bid for.

Sr. No.	Parameters	Shortlisting Criteria	Evidence Required	Single entity	JV Applicant
1.	Business standing	Consultant must be in business for a period of at least 5 years as on the date of EoI submission	Name, address, e-mail, telephone along with a note on the Ownership and organizational structure & core business area of the consulting firm; Copy of Certificate of Incorporation and Partnership Deed, if any Copy of any other Registration Certificate which proves the legal identity of the Company.	Must meet requirement.	Must be met by Lead member

Sr. No.	Parameters	Shortlisting Criteria	Evidence Required	Single entity	JV Applicant
			In case of JV Applicant, in addition to the above, a letter of intent to form a joint venture or, if the JV is already formed, a copy of the existing JV agreement signed by every participating member which details the likely legal structure of and the confirmation of joint and severable liability of the members of the said joint venture. JV cannot be of more than 3 members.
2.	Financial Stability	Consultant must have an average annual turnover of more than Rs. 50 crores (for each package individually) during last 3 years (FY 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24). For Example: If the Consultant intends to participate for all the six packages, it should have an average annual turnover of INR 600 Crores during the last	Audited financial statements for the last three financial year. OR Certificate from statutory auditor.	Must meet requirement.	Must be jointly met by the JV.

Sr. No.	Parameters	Shortlisting Criteria	Evidence Required	Single entity	JV Applicant
		three years (FY 2021- 22, 2022-23, 2023- 24).
3.	Net Worth	Consultant must have a positive net worth as at the close of the last financial year, i.e. (as of March 31, 2024).	Certificate from Statutory Auditor certifying the net worth as of March 31, 2023	Must meet requirement.	Each member must meet requirement
4.	Firm Experience
A.	Firm Experience Criteria -	Consultant must have experience of successfully completing 02 (two) assignments in India for Ministry / Department / Undertaking of Govt. of India/ State Government in India, within the last 7 years as on the date of EoI submission. Each assignment should involve the scope of advising, monitoring and providing consultancy services in i.) public sector reforms (including public financial management reforms, improvements in service delivery, capacity building and e-governance reforms) (ii.) statistical reforms (iii.) data analytics with value of at least INR 5 Cr or above in each assignment.	Description of experience of Consultant to be submitted in Form Tech I supported by Work Order/ Copy of agreement/ Contract Document/ Completion Certificate	Must meet requirement.	Must be met jointly by JV
B.		In addition to the assignments above, the Consultant must demonstrate		Must meet requirement.	Must be met jointly by JV

Sr. No.	Parameters	Shortlisting Criteria	Evidence Required	Single entity	JV Applicant
		experience of execution of advisory / PMU / PMC projects with the World Bank/ other MDBs or funded by the World Bank/ other MDBs with minimum project value of INR 2 Cr during last 7 years
5.	Resource Strength	Consultant should have at least 100 full time resources with experience in advisory/ consulting services as on 31st July 2024. Note: Consultant(s) intending to bid for more than one package must demonstrate full-time employment of an additional 100 resources for every additional package. Example: A Consultant bidding for all six packages must have 600 full- time employees in the areas mentioned above.	Certificate from the HR/Authorized Signatory on the firm's letterhead with names of the consulting resources.	Must meet requirement.	Must be met jointly by JV

Consultant may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications but should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture or sub-consultant In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract, if selected. The nature of association, must be clearly mentioned in the Expression of Interest. Also, one company can only be a part of any one JV. In case of JV, a letter of intent to form a joint venture or, if the JV is already formed, a copy of the existing JV agreement signed by every participating member which details the likely legal structure of and the confirmation of joint and severable liability of the members of the said joint venture shall be submitted along with the EOI.

Interested Consultants may apply for more than one Package. Consultant indicating interest for multiple packages shall be assessed jointly on cumulative requirement of Financial Turnover Criteria (2) and Resource strength (5) as listed above under each package. For example, the average annual turnover requirement and Resource strength shall be as below:

• INR 50 crore and 100 full time resources for 1 package
• INR 100 crore and 200 full time resources for 2 packages
• INR 150 crore and 300 full time resources for 3 packages
• INR 200 crore and 400 full time resources for 4 packages
• INR 250 crore and 500full time resources for 5 packages
• INR 300 crore and 600 full time resources for 6 packages

Please also note that staffing shall be mutually exclusive across these applications. Also note that separate resources shall be deployed at each district/division, and they shall be located in the district/divisional headquarters (as per contract type) during the consultancy period. Consultants need to apply for the number of packages keeping in view the requirement of deployment of resource and should clearly indicate the priority order of packages for short listing purpose. Key Experts will not be evaluated at the short-listing stage.

Screening of EOIs shall be carried out as per eligibility conditions mentioned in this document and based on verification of documents submitted.

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” July 2016, Revised November 2017, August 2018, November 2020 and September 2023 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest, eligibility and disqualification.

EOI will be evaluated using short listing criteria for each package. The Shortlist shall include number of eligible firms in accordance with the Bank’s Procurement Regulation. The Shortlisted applicants shall be required, at a later stage, to submit a separate Proposal comprising Technical and Financial Proposals. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Quality-cum- Cost Based Selection (QCBS) method, set out in the World Bank Procurement Regulations. Each package will have a maximum shortlist of 8 consultants. In case of more than 8 consultants, the shortlist will be based on turnover. The follow-on RFPs would be issued separately for each Package.

The EOI is not an offer and is issued with no commitment. MITRA reserves the right to withdraw REOI and/or vary any part thereof at any stage before EOI submission deadline.

Deadline for submission of EOI

REOI along with TOR is available at https://mahatenders.gov.in. Corrigendum, if any, shall also be hosted at https://mahatenders.gov.in.

In exceptional circumstances and at its discretion, MITRA may extend the deadline for submission of EoI by issuing an amendment to be made available on the aforesaid website, in which case all rights and obligations of MITRA and the applicants previously subject to the original deadline will thereafter be subject to the deadline as extended.

“Interested Consultants must submit their EOIs (soft copy only), in its complete form in all respects as specified in the REOI in English language on or before 17:00 hours IST, on 23 August 2024.

Expressions of interest must be submitted electronically on the MahaTenders portal -

https://mahatenders.gov.in and no other means/modes of application will be accepted.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours (10:00 AM to 06:00 PM):

Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA), Planning Department, GoM,

Nirmal Building, 5th floor,

Nariman Point, Madam Cama Road, Mumbai 400021

Email: joint-ceo@mahamitra.org

Instructions for interested Applicants:

1. Applicants who wish to participate in this EoI process must register on

https://mahatenders.gov.in and put their online submissions through the same portal.

1. To participate in online EoI process, Applicants must procure a Digital Signature Certificate (Class - II) as per Information Technology Act-2000 using which they are required to digitally sign and encrypt their electronic EoIs.
2. MITRA will not be responsible for delay in online submission due to any reason. For this, Applicants are requested to upload the complete Application well advance in time to avoid issues like slow speed, heavy traffic on website or any other unforeseen problems.
3. Applicants are also advised to refer “Bidders Manual Kit” available at

https://mahatenders.gov.in for further details about the e-tendering process.

Terms of Reference

1. Background

Maharashtra is India's biggest economy, having GSDP of INR 3,527,084 crores (approximately US$425 billion) in FY22-23, and GSDP per capita of INR 242,247 which is higher than India average of INR 115,7464. Only 17.3 percent of the state’s households are classified as Below Poverty Line compared with the India average of 22 percent. The state also has a relatively higher performance on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) than the country average. On the composite SDG India 2020-21 Index, Maharashtra is in the ‘front-runners’ category of performers with a score of 70 against the all-India score of 66.

However, the State’s economic growth has slowed, is marked by significant inter-district disparities, and is threatened by high vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. After growing at an average real growth rate of 7.1% FY12-13 and FY16-17, the real economic growth slowed down to 4.5% and 3.9% in FY17/18 and FY18/19 respectively. There is large variation in economic growth across the 36 districts of the State, with per capita GSDP if FY19-20 ranging from US$ 966 in Nandurbar to US$3,720 in Mumbai (at constant prices).

To support Maharashtra in realizing its economic growth potential, the government has introduced several flagship programs and schemes. Notable among these are PM Gati Shakti, which focuses on enhancing infrastructure and streamlining logistics, and PM LiFE, which promotes sustainable development practices. These initiatives are designed to address key challenges and drive economic growth by improving connectivity, reducing logistical bottlenecks, and fostering a more sustainable and resilient economy.

PM Gati Shakti:

It was launched on October 13, 2021, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a comprehensive initiative aimed at revolutionizing India’s infrastructure landscape. The plan, which translates to “the power of speed,” focuses on accelerating processes across multiple sectors, including roads, energy, water, and digital services. By streamlining government initiatives, prioritizing projects effectively, optimizing logistics, and synchronizing departmental efforts, PM Gati Shakti aims to create a more efficient and transparent infrastructure development process. The integration of advanced analytics and Artificial Intelligence into the platform is expected to predict economic trends and infrastructure needs under various scenarios, further enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of development projects. This initiative is designed to ensure dynamic project implementation, ultimately contributing to India’s economic growth and development.

The impact of PM Gati Shakti on Maharashtra is expected to be significant across various fronts. In terms of infrastructure development, the initiative aims to address the challenges of congested roads and transportation systems, particularly in Mumbai, by investing in improvements to roads, railways, ports, and airports. This could alleviate traffic congestion, facilitate smoother movement of goods, and stimulate faster business growth, thereby improving the Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living. Additionally, as a major industrial hub, Maharashtra stands to benefit from

enhanced infrastructure that could accelerate the movement of goods, reduce costs, and enhance competitiveness for local industries. This could attract additional investments and generate more job opportunities. Urban development projects, such as new metro systems, improved road networks, and smart city initiatives, are also expected to enhance urban living standards and improve transportation efficiency. Furthermore, PM Gati Shakti aims to bolster Maharashtra’s connectivity with neighboring states and regions through strategic infrastructure projects, fostering economic vitality and growth. Overall, PM Gati Shakti is poised to transform Maharashtra’s infrastructure landscape, driving economic development and improving the quality of life for its residents.

PM LiFE:

The LiFE Movement, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aims to promote an environment-conscious lifestyle among individuals and communities. It focuses on raising awareness, encouraging sustainable practices, and driving collective action towards environmental protection and conservation. By leveraging data from initiatives like PM Gati Shakti, which includes pollution control technologies and renewable energy promotion, the LiFE Movement can highlight progress and encourage further adoption of sustainable practices. Improved infrastructure under PM Gati Shakti, such as new metro systems and smart city initiatives, can enhance urban living standards. The LiFE Movement advocates for infrastructure designs that prioritize environmental sustainability, including green buildings, efficient public transport systems, and green spaces.

The LiFE Movement can also influence the MahaSTRIDE program by promoting environment- friendly measures while implementing Disbursement Linked Indicators. For example, designing Business Facilitation Centres (BFCs) with environmentally friendly designs. The development of the State Data Catalog and annual analytical reports promotes transparency in governance, allowing the LiFE Movement to hold stakeholders accountable for environmental commitments and track progress towards sustainable development goals. Additionally, District Management Organizations (DMOs) under PM Gati Shakti can collaborate with the LiFE Movement to integrate eco-tourism initiatives, promoting destinations that emphasize environmental conservation and cultural preservation. Analytical statistical reports provide insights into socio-economic trends and challenges, which the LiFE Movement can use to advocate for policies that align with sustainable development goals.

Economic Advisory Council (EAC):

In December 2022, Government of Maharashtra constituted established the Economic Advisory Council (EAC). This council, comprising experts from government, private sectors, and academia, submitted a report in July 2023 outlining a roadmap for Maharashtra to achieve a $1 Trillion Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) by FY28 and a $30 Trillion target by 2047. Following a Maharashtra Cabinet decision on November 17, 2023, the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) was tasked with detailing the implementation of the EAC’s recommendations. Key sectors identified for improvement include Agro & Agro-Processing, Tourism, IT & ITeS, Industries (Textiles & Logistics), Skill Development, Energy, and Urban

Development. This initiative aligns with the MahaSTRIDE program, which aims to enhance institutional capabilities, services, and the data ecosystem to accelerate economic growth at the district level.

To facilitate the implementation of the MahaSTRIDE program, each district will have a District Strategic Unit (DSU) composed of various sector experts viz. from the Industry, Tourism, and experts on Data science/analytics. These units will assist in executing the program’s components and ensure that the EAC’s recommendations converge with the program’s objectives. These implementation resources will work with the concerned departments to align with the result areas defined in section 2 below.

In 2018, the Planning Department of the Government of Maharashtra (GoM) published its Vision 2030 document, aimed at promoting sustainable, balanced, and all-inclusive socio-economic growth of the State. This Vision has been further detailed through the ‘Roadmap to Becoming a OTD (One Trillion Dollar) Economy’ and the ‘Manual for Good Governance’. The roadmap identifies policies and investments required to accelerate growth over the next five years and recommends (i) capacitating districts to provide the bottom-up push to growth (ii) improving delivery of government services for providing an enabling environment for catalyzing private investments. The Manual of Good Governance advocates, inter alia, for creating a robust, reliable, and integrated data ecosystem that facilitates evidence-based policy formulation, data driven planning and close to real-time performance monitoring of schemes.

The World Bank Group, through the Maharashtra Strengthening Institutional Capabilities in Districts for Enabling Growth (“MahaSTRIDE”) operation aims to support the implementation of the OTD (One Trillion Dollar) vision by addressing three challenges –

1. 1. districts face capability gaps that constrain planning, convergence, and coordination for driving growth,
   2. gaps in data availability hamper evidence-based decision-making, and
   3. the delivery of government services for enabling private capital mobilization needs strengthening.

The proposed result areas, while not finalized, provide an indication of the nature of the activities, outputs and outcomes expected from the operation, and hence, are shared below.

Results Indicator Framework of MahaSTRIDE Operation

(Results Indicators highlighted in blue in below table, viz. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are DLIs, Disbursement-Linked Indicators)

S.N o.	Results Indicator	Baseline	Year 0 (FY 2024-25)	Year 1 (FY 2025-26)	Year 2 (FY 2026-27)	Year 3 (FY 2027-28)	Year 4 (FY 2028-29)	Year 5 (FY 2029-30)
Results Area I: Strengthen district systems for enabling growth
1	Improved	0 (DSPs prepared by			12	18	22	26 districts
	performance of	36 districts for the first			districts	districts	districts	achieve
	districts linked	time, got approved in			achieve	achieve	achieve	target score
	to	March 2024 with a 5-			target	target	target	for
	implementation	year Action Plan and			score for	score for	score for	performance
	of DSPs	first Annual Action			performa	performa	performa	conditions
		Plan for FY 2024-25)			nce	nce	nce
					condition	condition	condition
					s	s	s
2	Improved	Constrained access to	Integratio	Integratio	Launch	Increase	Increase	DSPs
	availability and	consolidated and real-	n of	n of	the	the	the	prepared,
	use of data for	time data on fund	iPAS,	scheme	integrate	number	number	updated and
	DSPs	flows and scheme	MPSIMS	MIS,	d district	of data	of data	monitored
		implementation across	and DSP	BEAMS	data	layers on	layers on	with
		sectors and	M&E	and	portal	the	the	information
		implementing entities	Dashboar	PFMS	with 20	integrate	integrate	from
		in districts	d	with	number	d district	d district	integrated
			(scheme	district	of data	data	data	district data
			MIS)	level	layers	portal by	portal by	portal
				interface		20	20
						number	number
						over Year	over Year
						2	3
3	Strengthened	State Tourism Policy	State	DMOs	Skill gap	Approval	Completi	At least 10%
	policy and	2016 currently	Tourism	operation	assessme	of 6	on of	increase in
	institutional	prevails; No	Policy	alized in	nt in the	Destinati	30% of	foreign
	framework for	destination	approved	6	6	on	skill	tourist
	tourism	management	in 2024	identified	destinatio	Manage	trainings	arrivals in
	development in	organizations (DMOs)		destinatio	ns (Note:	ment	(as	the 6
	districts	exist		ns	Baseline	Plans	detailed	destinations
					on	(DMPs)	in the 6	over Year 2
					destinatio		DMPs)
					n level
					foreign
					tourist
					arrivals