ERA | Publication Division,Ministry of information & broadcasting,government of India

The Invitation of Applications (IOA) Document containing the details of qualification criteria, submission requirement, brief objective, scope of work and evaluation criteria can be downloaded from the website publicationsdivision.nic.in.

Further details, if any, may be obtained from Business Manager (I/c) (Mr. Ajeet Singh Meena), Publications Division, Room No. 758, Business Wing, Soochna Bhawan, New Delhi-110003 during working hours.

Sealed envelope marked to the captioned address, containing IOA and non-refundable processing fee of Rs 2000.00 (Two Thousand Rupees Only) by way of DD/Pay Order in favor of "DDO, Publications Division", payable at New Delhi may be submitted mentioning "IOA for Empanelment of E-Resource Aggregator (ERA)" on the top cover:

Sh. Deepak Negi, Deputy Director (Administration),

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,

Room No. 685, Soochna Bhawan, CGO Complex,

Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003

Note:

Publications Division or any of its designates reserves the right to cancel this request for IOA and/or invite afresh with or without amendments, without liability or any obligation for such request for IOA and without assigning any reason. Information provided at this stage is indicative and Publications Division reserves the right to amend/add further details in the IOA.

1. Background:

1.1 Introduction:

Publications Division (PD) is a repository of books and journals highlighting subjects of national importance and India's rich cultural heritage. The mandate of the organization is to preserve national heritage and disseminate the same through the production and sale of quality reading material at affordable prices. Publications Division publishes non-fiction books and journals on diverse aspects of Indian panorama, ranging from art and culture, land and people, flora and fauna, biographies of the Builders of Modern India, Gandhian Literature, Cultural Leaders of India, India's History, Freedom Movement, Children's Literature among many other subjects. It publishes books in Hindi, English and other regional languages. It also publishes books containing compilation of Speeches of President, Vice-President and Prime Minister.

1.2 Books on Gandhian literature hold the place of pride for Publications Division with several books on Gandhian thought including the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG) in 100 volumes, published in English and Sampoorna Gandhi Vangmaya in Hindi. Publications Division in association with Rashtrapati Bhavan, Supreme Court of India and Election Commission of India has published a series of high quality books on various aspects of Indian President's official residence and its functioning, Courts of India and Election History etc.

1.3 Presently, PD has around 2400 live titles and these are knowledge imparting publications which need to reach the nook and corner of the country.

1.4 Publications Division is also publishing magazines and journals on various aspects of Indian life. Yojana, with its 13 language editions, is the flagship magazine on development-related issues. Kurukshetra, in English and Hindi, is devoted to rural development. Aajkal, in Hindi and Urdu, is a prestigious literary magazine. Bal Bharati is a popular children's magazine in Hindi. Employment News, in English, Hindi and Urdu, is a weekly dedicated to providing valuable and authentic information on jobs in central government, including the public sector.

1.5 Publications Division is actively engaged in digitization. Under the scheme of "Media Infrastructure Development Program" over 2000 titles were digitized and at present the Digital Archives has a repository of over 1600 titles. PD expanded its presence in digital publishing industry by increasing the total number of titles and offering its e-publications on its website, app and other
e-commerce platforms. More than 600 e-books are available on e-commerce websites such as Amazon Kindle and Google Play Books.

2. Aims & Objectives:

Publications Division, New Delhi invites applications from eligible candidates for empanelment as e-resource aggregator to sell online e-books/e-journals. The e-resource aggregator so empanelled is expected to perform the following functions:-

Host and distribute the PD’s e-publications online.
Provide access to PD’s e-publications to individual end users.
Provide usage and revenue reports to PD.
Manage access rights to PD’s e-publications given to the authorized users, based on any rules, requirements, security or privileges mutually agreeable by the PD and e-resource aggregator.
Undertake the responsibility for marketing and sales of PD’s e-publications through its platform under a revenue sharing model.
Keep the Database updated with the latest information available from PD.
Share information relating to revenue from sale of e-publications with PD on a regular basis by providing monthly reports and through publisher relation desk.
Support and provide assistance to the Users/Subscribers of the PD’s e-publications consuming content from e-resource aggregator portal.
Sell the PD’s e-publications only within India. For selling in the International market, the prior permission from PD needs to be taken. In that case, the Digital Listed Price (DLP) of e-publications will be changed but there will be no change in the Revenue sharing model i.e. 70:30 (PD: E-Resource Aggregator).

3. IOA Processing Fees

A non-refundable processing fee for Rs. 2,000/- (Two Thousand Rupees only) in the form of a Demand Draft or a Pay Order drawn in favor of "DDO, Publications Division," Payable at New Delhi, has to be submitted along with the IOA response. Application received without or with inadequate IOA processing fees shall be liable to get rejected.

4. Validity of Offer

The offer for IOA as per this document shall be valid for a period of twelve (12) months initially which may be extended further if required by Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

5. Terms of Reference

The detailed terms of reference are:

1. The term of the agreement shall be for one year from the effective date of the agreement and may be renewed for successive terms of 1 year upon mutual agreement of PD and the E-Resource Aggregator. The agreement may be cancelled by either party by giving a written notice of 30 days.

2. In case of insolvency, bankruptcy or liquidation of any Party, the other Party may terminate this agreement by giving at least thirty (30) days prior written notice to the other Party.

3. PD has right to withdraw specific titles as per discretion, but customers who have already bought the titles prior to the withdrawal date will continue to have access rights.

6. Qualification Criteria

The detailed terms of reference may be seen at Appendix B.

Following will be the minimum pre-qualification criteria. Each eligible consultant should possess all the following pre-qualification criteria. Responses not meeting the minimum qualification criteria will be rejected and will not be evaluated.

S. No	Pre-Qualification Criteria	Supporting Compliance Document
1.	The applicant shall be a firm/ company/ partnership/ proprietorship firm registered under the Indian Companies Act 1956/ the Partnership Act, 1932 and who have their registered offices in India.	Copy of Certificate of Incorporation and Partnership deed, if any
2.	The firm should be in the business of providing similar services for at least 01 year as on 31.12.2022	Certificate by Company Secretary of the Applicant's organization.
3.	The application should have an annual turnover of Rupees 10 lakh in 2021-22 from only sale of books/e-books/e-journals in India. However, for the states of North East and Jammu & Kashmir, the minimum turnover requirement will be Rs.1 Lakh.	(i) CA certified document with name of CA registration number, signature & stamp. (ii) Copy of Work Order/ Contract relating to: Sale of books/eBooks Marketing of books
4.	The firm should not be blacklisted by any Central Govt./ State Govt./ PSU/ Govt. Bodies	Certificate signed by the authorized signatory.
5.	PAN No./ GST Certificate	Copy of Certificate to be enclosed.
6.	URL of the firm	……………………………

7. Evaluation Criteria and Method of Evaluation:

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

IOA will be evaluated for short listing inter alia based on their past experience of sale of
e-Books & e-Journals, details of human resource power, financial strength of firm and presentation / proposal to the selection committee whose decision will be final and binding.

Agencies who qualify as per the eligibility conditions will provide a brief about the portal/website. The agencies may be required to make a presentation, if required, to a selection committee show-casing their proposals.

To download the ERA Application Form & terms for website click here : ERA Application Form