EOI For Consultancy for “Setting up and managing an Agribusiness Enterprise Development and Promotion Facility

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (REOI)

For hiring a Consultancy Service Provider for “Setting up and managing an Agribusiness

Enterprise Development and Promotion Facility (EDPF)”

1. The Government of Assam (GoA) through the Government of India has applied for a loan of US$ 200 million from the World

Bank (WB) for implementation of the APART. The APART’s objective is to increase value-added and improve resilience in the production and processing of selected agricultural commodities, focusing on small farmers and agro-entrepreneurs in the targeted districts of Assam. An important component of the APART is setting up an Agribusiness Enterprise Development and Promotion Facility (EDPF). More details may be seen in the indicative draft terms of Reference for the assignment uploaded in the www.arias.in/notification .The ARIAS Society now intends to apply a portion of the loan for hiring a Service Provider for “Setting up and Managing an Agribusiness Enterprise Development and Promotion Facility (EDPF)”.

2. Briefly the scope of the Service Provider assignment would cover- (i) Create a body of knowledge, informative network of producer / market linkages (involving the stakeholders- producers, processors, wholesalers, commission agents, exporters and

retailers); (ii) Establish an on-going flow of information related to agribusiness, which will accelerate the economic development of Assam Agribusiness Sector; (iii) Promote various business activities either supporting agriculture or based on agricultural production and post harvest technology; (iv) Developing an improved agri-entrepreneurship ecosystem in Assam leading to growth of agribusiness industry and number of jobs in this industry.

3. The State Project Director (SPD), ARIAS society now invites eligible agencies to submit their Expression of Interest (EOI) for providing the Services. Interested agencies should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services as indicated in the Draft Terms of Reference (TOR) for the proposed assignment, which may be seen at the website of ARIAS Society viz. (www.arias.in/notification ). EOI shall not be more than total 60 pages.

(a) Name, complete address, fax number, e-mail address along with a note on the Ownership and organizational structure & core business area;

(b) Documents to demonstrate that the firm is in the business since last five years (2015-16, 2014-15, 2013-14, 2012-13 & 2011-12) ;

(c) Details of at least 3 similar assignments executed in the last 5 years (2015-16, 2014-15, 2013-14, 2012-13 & 2011-12) to support the short-listing criteria accompanied by completion or acceptance certificate(s), including experience, if any, of having worked with public sector agencies in India/ projects funded by International Multilateral/ Bilateral agencies;

(d) Certificate from the statutory auditors/ Chartered Accountant certifying the total turnover during each of the last 3 financial years (i.e. 2015-16, 2014-15 & 2013-14);

(e) In-house available expertise with domain knowledge and experience in similar assignments.

4. The short-listing criteria include: The firm/ agency should

a. be in business for the last 5 years (2015-16, 2014-15, 2013-14, 2012-13 & 2011-12) ;

b. have Average Annual Financial Turnover of minimum Rs.5.0 crore in the last 3 financial years (2015-16, 2014-15 & 2013- 14);

c. have proven experience of successfully completed at least 3 similar assignments in the last 5 years (2015-16 to 2011-12 as above);

d. have of a multidisciplinary in-house technical team and expert staff available with them.

5. The Service Provider Agency will be selected in accordance with the Quality & Cost Based Selection (QCBS) method set out in

the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers; Procurement of Goods, Works, Non-Consulting & Consulting Services, July 2016”, available at www.worldbank.org. Attention of the interested Service Provider agencies is drawn to paragraph 3.14 of the said Regulations relating to the Conflict of Interest. Consultants may associate with other firms in the form of a joint venture (JV) or a sub-consultancy to enhance their qualifications. However, nature of association i.e. whether JV or Sub-Consultant, must be clearly mentioned in the Expression of Interest.

6. Interested Service Provider Agencies must deliver their EOIs in written form and in English Language to the address given below on or before 2 nd February’2017in hard copy as well as a soft copy by email before the given date. Further information can be obtained at the address of the SPD given below from 10.30 am – 04.00 pm (IST) on all working days

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