Sanjay Kumar - Understanding Sustainable Public Procurement: Reflections from India and the World

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Public procurement represents a substantial share of government spending and can play a key role in helping countries pursue the agenda for sustainable development. Hitherto, the objectives driving public procurement focused traditionally on so-called primary transactional dimensions of economy and efficiency. Over time, other strategic policy aimscommonly termed collateral objectiveshave taken on increasing centrality in the calibration of Value for Money (VfM) in public purchasing, depending on country context. Such broader socio-economic policy imperatives may include the development of local industries, facilitation of trade, promotion of environmental sustainability, and inclusion of disadvantaged groups, among others. Public procurement frameworks, to be successful, must, therefore, translate these varying policy imperatives into relevant regulations and practices within the confines of internationally accepted procurement principles.

Social valuewithin a VfM contextis a function of economic, social, and environmental outcomes that tangibly contribute to the well-being, resilience, and sustainability of society and the wider environment. By focusing on what gives social value in public procurement, governments can more readily capture positive externalitiesoutcomes and impactsthat widen transactional benefits and more effectively address broader pressing economic, social, and environmental challenges. Moreover, citizen preferences increasingly demonstrate demand for public procurement authorities to choose quality over price and to reflect wider societal value in making purchasing decisions and expenditures from public monies.

It is in this context that this treatise on sustainable procurement by Sanjay Kumar is very timely. While Sanjay, an acknowledged global thought leader on sustainable procurement, has made a mammoth effort in researching and collating the existing literature, he has critically examined the practices in various countries and adapted them to the Indian context. Much of the advances in this field have been made in developed countries, and their direct transposition in the developing country context has not always proven to be satisfactory. Sanjay has examined various policies and practices in different countries and made a critical assessment of their applicability in India.

What sets this book apart from the rest is a coherent narrative to view public procurement through a dual lens. From a macro-economic perspective, the book examines the power of government contracting as a policy tool to increase participation of micro and small and medium businesses, of disadvantaged groups, as well as for increasing innovation and environmental sustainability through use of green goods and services. At a micro-economic level, on the other hand, the book also looks at public purchasing at a discrete transactional and identifies ongoing challenges in deriving greater VfM from ground-level procedures and processes.

Procurement is, indisputably, where the rubber hits the road. Varied and variable procurement approaches at national and regional levels underscore the importance of sustainable global efforts to explore, innovate, and collaborate on critical dimensions of the public procurement space promoting more meaningful knowledge, research, and best practices across countries and regions. This book will be an important part of this agenda.

Sanjay Kumar needs to be congratulated for bringing out this comprehensive, yet eminently readable book on such an important subject. I am sure this will pave the way for meaningful reforms in India as well as other parts of the world.