Tender Overview for SkillCouncils.com

The National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development, NIESBUD, under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India, has invited a Request for Proposal for the Evaluation of Training Programmes of NIESBUD. The assignment is for an independent third-party impact evaluation of training programmes conducted during the last three financial years: FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25. The agency will assess programme relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, participant outcomes, inclusiveness, implementation gaps and best practices.

Key Tender Details

Required Criteria Table

Scope of Work

The selected agency will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of NIESBUD’s training programmes conducted during FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 across States and Union Territories where programmes were implemented.

The work includes representative sampling, field surveys, interviews, consultations, data collection, outcome assessment, process review and evidence-based recommendations. The evaluation must cover skill enhancement, enterprise creation, employment generation, income improvement, access to finance and markets, inclusiveness across gender and social categories, curriculum quality, trainer effectiveness, partner performance, monitoring systems and implementation gaps.

The agency must also conduct peer benchmarking with Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad, and assess NIESBUD’s practices against relevant international standards and global best practices in entrepreneurship development.

Programme Categories Covered

The evaluation will cover the following NIESBUD training programmes:

Minimum Sample Size Requirement

The RFP requires a hybrid data collection approach: 60% face-to-face interactions and 40% online / telephonic interviews. It also requires at least 1,000 face-to-face in-depth interviews with photographs and videos documenting beneficiary journeys.

Pre-Qualification and Eligibility Criteria

Eligible bidders must be legally registered organizations such as a company, society, trust, research institution, university or consultancy organization. Individuals are not eligible.

The bidder must have at least 5 years of existence, must have completed at least 5 evaluation / impact assessment studies in the last 5 years, and must demonstrate capacity for large-scale, multi-State fieldwork across India.

The bidder should not be currently implementing NIESBUD’s training programmes and must not have any direct conflict of interest with NIESBUD’s ongoing programmes.

Financial Criteria

The applicant must have a minimum average annual turnover of ₹3 crore over the last three financial years. The RFP does not mention a specific net worth requirement.

The financial bid must quote a lump sum amount for the complete study. The quoted amount should be all-inclusive for all activities under the scope of work, including data collection, compilation, analysis, translation, printing, secretarial expenses and related costs, excluding applicable taxes.

Tender Fee, EMD and Performance Security

No tender fee is mentioned in the RFP.

Bidders are required to submit an EMD of ₹50,000 through Demand Draft, Banker’s Cheque, Fixed Deposit Receipt or Bank Guarantee from a scheduled commercial bank. The EMD should be in favour of Director, NIESBUD, payable at Noida.

Bidders registered with MSME / NSIC / DPIIT-recognized Startups are exempted from EMD payment upon submission of valid proof. Bidders who had already submitted bids against the earlier RFP floated on 02.03.2026 are required to submit fresh bids but need not submit a fresh EMD; they may upload a copy of the Demand Draft already submitted earlier.

The successful bidder must submit Performance Security equal to 10% of the total contract value in the form of a Bank Guarantee within 15 days of award of contract.

Important Dates and Deadlines

Note: The RFP contains a date inconsistency. The key dates table mentions the Pre-Bid Meeting as 06.07.2026 at 12:00 PM, while another section mentions 02.07.2026 at 12:00 PM. Bidders should verify the final date through NIESBUD / CPP Portal corrigendum before participation.

Submission Guidelines

Proposals must be submitted online through the Central Public Procurement Portal. No physical bids are to be submitted, except the physical copy of the EMD instrument, where applicable, which must be sent to:

Director, NIESBUD
A-23, Sector 62, Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Applicants must upload scanned copies of all required documents on the CPP Portal. The proposal must be signed by the Head of the Organization or an authorized signatory. The financial proposal must be uploaded strictly in the prescribed format and should not be included in the technical proposal.

Evaluation Methodology

The selection will be made through Quality and Cost Based Selection - QCBS.

Technical evaluation will be based on:

Only bidders scoring at least 60 marks in technical evaluation will qualify for financial bid opening.

Deliverables and Timelines

Payment Terms

Document Checklist

Bidders should prepare and upload the following documents:

NIESBUD has released an RFP for engaging an eligible and experienced agency to conduct an independent third-party evaluation of its training programmes implemented during FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25. The assignment aims to assess the impact, effectiveness, inclusiveness and sustainability of entrepreneurship and skill development training programmes across India.

The evaluation will cover major NIESBUD programme categories, including EAP, EDP, ESDP, MDP, ToT, FDP and Banking Correspondent training. The selected agency will conduct large-scale data collection, field surveys, beneficiary interviews, stakeholder consultations, peer benchmarking with EDII Ahmedabad, and assessment against international entrepreneurship development practices.

Eligible agencies must have at least 5 years of legal existence, proven experience in evaluation and impact assessment studies, large-scale field survey capability, and minimum average annual turnover of ₹3 crore during the last three financial years. The last date for online submission is 20 July 2026 up to 5:00 PM. Bidders should carefully review the official RFP and corrigenda before submission.