Key Tender Details

The procurement schedule states that proposal security is not applicable and gives 31 July 2026 as the RFP/EOI commencement date, with online submission through the NSDC e-procurement portal.

Important date note: The RFP records the technical proposal opening time as 20 August 2026 at 04:30 AM. This appears inconsistent with the 4:00 PM submission deadline, but this summary retains the time exactly as stated in the tender document. Bidders should verify the portal and any subsequent corrigendum before relying on the opening time.

Scope of Work

The empanelled recruitment agencies will be responsible for providing end-to-end recruitment services to NSDC across different hiring requirements.

The principal scope includes:

1. Understanding Recruitment Requirements

The agency is required to understand the job description, qualifications, experience, technical and behavioural competencies, reporting structure, critical success factors, hiring priorities and timelines for each position.

The agency may also assist NSDC in refining job descriptions and providing market intelligence relating to salary benchmarks, talent availability, competitor hiring practices and talent movement.

2. Candidate Sourcing

Recruitment agencies must adopt proactive sourcing strategies using suitable channels, including:

1. Job portals
2. Professional networks
3. Internal databases
4. Social media platforms
5. Industry references
6. Targeted headhunting
7. Active and passive talent pools

The agency must ensure that the sourcing strategy is appropriate to the seniority and nature of the position.

3. Candidate Screening and Assessment

The agency will conduct preliminary screening covering:

1. Educational qualifications
2. Professional experience
3. Domain expertise
4. Technical competencies
5. Functional competencies
6. Behavioural attributes
7. Cultural fit
8. Current compensation
9. Expected compensation
10. Notice period
11. Relocation willingness, where applicable

Only relevant and adequately screened candidates are to be submitted to NSDC, along with updated CVs and candidate summaries.

4. Interview Coordination

The agency will manage end-to-end interview coordination, including:

1. Interview scheduling
2. Candidate communication
3. Virtual or physical interview coordination
4. Venue or meeting-link communication
5. Candidate preparation
6. Follow-up
7. Rescheduling
8. Feedback collection
9. Candidate engagement throughout the selection process

The agency is also expected to support candidates through subsequent interview stages and maintain a positive candidate experience.

5. Offer Management and Salary Negotiation

The recruitment agency will support position closure by:

1. Facilitating communication between NSDC and selected candidates
2. Supporting compensation discussions
3. Assisting in salary negotiations
4. Providing market-based compensation inputs
5. Communicating offer details
6. Obtaining candidate acceptance
7. Following up throughout the notice period
8. Monitoring joining risks

The objective is to minimise offer dropouts and ensure successful onboarding.

6. Dedicated SPOC

Each empanelled agency must nominate a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to coordinate recruitment assignments.

The SPOC will manage requisitions, sourcing, screening, interviews, SLA/TAT monitoring, reporting, offers, joining follow-ups and replacement requirements. The bidder must submit the proposed SPOC's CV/profile with its Technical Bid.

7. Replacement Guarantee

A 90-day replacement guarantee applies to successfully placed candidates. If a candidate does not join after accepting an offer or resigns, is terminated or otherwise discontinues employment within 90 days of joining, the agency must provide a suitable replacement at no additional cost to NSDC, subject to the conditions specified in the RFP.

8. Compliance and Data Protection

The agency must comply with applicable recruitment, labour and employment laws and maintain fair, transparent and non-discriminatory recruitment practices.

Confidentiality and data protection are also mandatory, covering candidate information, job descriptions, compensation details and organisational information.

9. Indicative Turnaround Times

These timelines may vary depending on the recruitment category and complexity of the position.

Recruitment Categories

NSDC has divided recruitment requirements into three categories:

Category A – Executive Search & Leadership Hiring

This category covers executive search, leadership hiring, senior management recruitment and board-level talent acquisition.

Category B – Subject Matter/Domain or Senior Management Hiring

This category covers mid- and senior-level recruitment across different functional and domain areas.

Category C – Entry Level / Operational Hiring

This category focuses on entry-level, operational and bulk/volume recruitment requirements.

Bidders can apply for one or more categories, depending on their eligibility, experience and organisational capabilities. Each category is evaluated independently and requires a minimum technical score of 70 out of 100.

Pre-Qualification / Eligibility Criteria

The RFP specifies five key eligibility conditions.

1. Legal Entity

The bidder must be a duly registered legal entity in India and must fall within the permitted entity structures, including:

1. Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) registered under the LLP Act, 2008; or
2. Indian Company registered under the Companies Act, 1956/2013.

Required supporting documents include the Certificate of Incorporation/Registration Certificate, GST Registration Certificate and PAN Card.

2. Minimum Average Annual Turnover

The bidder must have a minimum average annual turnover of ₹3 crore during the following three financial years:

1. FY 2022-23
2. FY 2023-24
3. FY 2024-25

The bidder must submit a CA-certified turnover statement with UDIN and audited financial statements.

3. Minimum Relevant Experience

The bidder must have relevant experience in India in undertaking at least three assignments for providing hiring services across various domains to:

1. Central Government organisations
2. State Government organisations
3. Autonomous Bodies
4. Large Private Organisations

The bidder must provide work orders/contracts/agreements containing scope, order value and duration, together with client satisfaction/completion evidence.

4. Non-Debarment and Integrity

The applicant must not be debarred, blacklisted or suspended by specified government/public-sector/autonomous/statutory organisations as on the submission date.

The RFP also requires declarations relating to insolvency, liquidation, criminal proceedings and integrity.

5. Mandatory Compliance with TOR and SOW

All requirements under the Terms of Reference and Scope of Work are mandatory. Failure to demonstrate the ability to deliver the specified services can result in disqualification.

Financial Criteria and Commercial Requirements

The key financial eligibility threshold is the ₹3 crore minimum average annual turnover.

Importantly, the RFP's eligibility section does not specify a separate minimum net-worth requirement. Form 6 focuses on turnover and asks bidders to attach audited balance sheets and income-tax return certificates for the previous three years.

The financial proposal is based on a percentage of the annual fixed pay of the successfully joined candidate, with separate quotes for Categories A, B and C. Rates are exclusive of GST and must include costs relating to sourcing, screening, assessment, coordination and candidate closure.

Payment is linked to successful joining and, under the detailed payment clause, the agency can submit its invoice after the candidate has completed 90 days of continuous employment; NSDC is to release payment within 45 days of a valid invoice, subject to the specified conditions.

Tender Fee, EMD and Proposal Security

EMD / Proposal Security

EMD: Not Applicable.

The procurement schedule expressly states that Proposal Security is not applicable. Therefore, no EMD amount or EMD payment mode is specified in the RFP.

Tender Fee

Tender Fee: Not specified in the RFP document reviewed.

Accordingly, bidders should not assume a tender fee amount unless it is subsequently displayed on the NSDC e-procurement portal or specified through an official corrigendum.

Important Tender Details Table

The RFP requires proposals to remain valid for 180 days after the submission deadline.

Technical Qualification Criteria

After eligibility screening, NSDC evaluates bidders technically.

Each recruitment category carries 100 marks, and bidders must achieve at least 70 marks in each category for which they apply.

Category A – Executive Search & Leadership Hiring

Evaluation includes:

1. Leadership search experience
2. Year-wise experience
3. Number of leadership/senior-management assignments completed
4. Sector expertise
5. Understanding of NSDC requirements
6. Recruitment methodology and work plan

For example, experience across all three specified financial years can receive the highest score under the leadership-search experience criterion.

Category B – Subject Matter/Domain or Senior Management Hiring

Evaluation includes:

1. Relevant recruitment experience
2. Functional hiring expertise
3. Geographic reach
4. Understanding of NSDC requirements
5. Recruitment approach, methodology and work plan

Functional domain experience and geographic coverage contribute to technical scoring.

Category C – Entry-Level / Operational Hiring

Evaluation includes:

1. Bulk hiring experience
2. Geographic reach
3. Understanding of NSDC requirements
4. Sourcing strategy
5. Screening and shortlisting methodology
6. Work plan

The bulk-hiring criterion awards higher marks to bidders demonstrating larger annual hiring volumes, supported by documentary evidence.

Submission Guidelines

Bidders must submit their proposals only through the NSDC e-procurement portal at:

https://nsdc.eproc.in/

The RFP requires a signed and complete proposal, with only one copy uploaded. The authorised representative must sign the submission documents and initial the pages as required. A written Power of Attorney authorising the representative is part of the submission requirements.

Key Submission Instructions

1. Register/use the NSDC e-procurement portal.
2. Prepare the Technical Proposal using the prescribed RFP forms.
3. Submit all eligibility and technical supporting documents.
4. Keep financial bid information out of the Technical Proposal.
5. If applying for multiple categories, submit separate Technical Bids for each category.
6. Clearly identify the category/lot on the relevant bid documents.
7. Ensure all declarations are signed by the authorised signatory.
8. Submit before the portal deadline.
9. Use the e-procurement server clock as the official reference for the closing time.
10. Do not submit conditional proposals or deviations from the RFP terms.

The RFP specifically states that a Technical Proposal containing financial bid information will be treated as non-responsive.

Document Checklist for Bidders

The RFP provides a dedicated Form 4 – Check List for Bidders on page 29. The checklist is to be submitted as part of the Technical Proposal on the bidder's letterhead.

Mandatory / Key Documents Checklist

The RFP's Forms section specifically lists Forms 1–8 and the Financial Proposal Form as part of the prescribed proposal documentation.

Special Points Bidders Should Note

No Joint Venture

The RFP states that Joint Venture is not allowed.

No Subcontracting

The bidder is not permitted to subcontract the whole or any part of the services awarded under the RFP.

MSE Benefits

The RFP specifically states that benefits to MSEs are not applicable for this RFP/EOI.

Technical Qualification

A bidder must secure 70 marks or above out of 100 in each category for which it submits a bid. Qualification in one category does not automatically qualify the bidder in another category.

Confidential/Redacted Documents

Where client confidentiality or NDA restrictions prevent disclosure of complete documents, bidders may submit appropriately masked/redacted documents, provided the minimum information necessary to substantiate the experience claim remains visible.

Bottom Line for Prospective Bidders

Recruitment firms considering this NSDC empanelment opportunity should primarily assess their ₹3 crore average turnover, three relevant recruitment assignments, legal registration, government/large-enterprise client credentials, category-specific technical experience and ability to provide end-to-end recruitment support.

The RFP places significant emphasis on documented experience, technical methodology, recruitment capability, geographic reach, candidate sourcing, screening, interview coordination and successful joining. Bidders should therefore prepare their documentary evidence carefully and ensure that all prescribed forms, declarations and supporting documents are complete before uploading the proposal.

Disclaimer: This article is a tender-information summary prepared from the uploaded NSDC RFP/EOI document. In case of any discrepancy, amendment, corrigendum or change on the official procurement portal, the official NSDC tender document and portal instructions should be treated as authoritative.

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