Tender Value Rises 31.5% in H1 FY26 Despite 33% Decline in Tender Numbers
By Team Projects Today
Project tendering activities across the country saw an increase in terms of tender value but fall in number of tenders in the first half of the fiscal 2025-26 (H1-FY26). As against 69,975 project tenders worth Rs 6,12,602.58 crore announced in H1-FY25, the country saw announcement of 46,691 tenders worth Rs 8,05,595.33 crore in H1-FY26. The tendering activity in terms of number witnessed a decrease of 33 percent, while in terms of value grew at 31.50 percent Y-o-Y in the H1/FY26.
As many as 77 high-ticket (Rs 1,000 crore and above) tenders worth Rs 2,12,706.81 crore were issued in H1-FY26 compared to 56 such tenders worth Rs 1,05,247.77 crore issued during the same period a year ago.
By Ownership
The state government agencies issued 32,433 tenders worth Rs 5,33,773 crore during H1-FY26 as against 53,054 tenders worth Rs 3,63,920.02 crore published in H1-FY25. In terms of numbers, the state government agencies issued 39 percent less tenders on Y-o-Y basis, while in terms of value, the growth was 46.67 percent Y-o-Y.
On the other hand, the Central government floated 13,323 project tenders worth Rs 2,68,906.13 crore in H1-FY26 as compared to 16,324 tenders with a contract value of Rs 2,45,554.75 crore in H1-FY25.
By Sectors
In the first half of FY2026, all five major sectors registered healthy growth in project tendering in terms of values. However, in terms of numbers Infrastructure and Irrigation saw declines. Project tenders in value terms remained low in the Manufacturing and Mining sectors.
The Infrastructure sector registered a growth of 33.19 percent in terms of tender value in H1-FY26, despite a fall of 37 percent in terms of tenders. The sector saw 41,540 project tenders worth Rs 7,05,884.64 crore being floated in H1-FY26 as against 65,429 tenders worth Rs 5,29,992.85 crore in the same period a year earlier. The sector accounted for 87.62 percent of the total tenders issued in first half of this fiscal.
Within the sector, Roadways, Community Services and Railways remained frontrunners and together accounted for 60.63 percent of the total tenders floated in the Infrastructure segment.
The Roadways sector with 13,298 tenders worth Rs 2,96,359.63 crore stood at the top of the table in the first half of this fiscal. In the similar period of the last year the sector had seen issuance of 21,441 tenders worth Rs 2,07,437.82 crore. The sector accounted for 36.79 percent of the total tenders published in H1-FY26.
Three nodal agencies — the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) and the Bihar State Road Devp. Corpn. — were the leading tenderers in this sector.
The largest tender issued by Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure was of Rs 17,698 crore for the design & construction of 3-lane underground twin tunnel road from Hebbal Esteem Mall Junction (km 0.000) to Silk Board KSRP Junction (km 16.745) along with 3-lane/2-lane entry & exit ramps including operation and maintenance in Bengaluru City (North South Corridor) on modified BOOT mode under Package-1 & 2.
Another high value tender worth of Rs 7,434.33 crore was floated by NHAI for the development of an 8-lane elevated flyover at tier-1 on single pier including upgradation of existing road to 4/6 lane with 2 lane service road on both sides of Nashik Phata to Khed (12.190 to km 42.113) section of NH-60 in Maharashtra on BOT (Toll) mode.
The Community Services sector ranked second with 12,588 tenders worth Rs 1,11,936.11 crore in H1-FY26 and accounted for 13.89 of the total tenders issued during the period. A year earlier, as many as 20,813 tenders were issued in the first half, with an aggregate value of Rs 88,380.87 crore.
The Central Public Works Department published a mega-value tender worth Rs 3,116.38 crore for the construction of Common Central Secretariat building 8 & 9 in Plot No. 23 B & C, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi.
The Railways sector followed with 2,960 tenders worth ₹80,119.50 crore, slightly up from ₹78,556.58 crore recorded through 4,494 tenders in the first six months of the previous year.
Two major tenders were floated by Andhra Pradesh Metro Rail Corpn. for engineering, design and construction (EPC) of viaduct length 46.23 km (3 corridors) (including 20.16 km of double decker 4 lane flyover cum metro viaduct) and 42 nos. elevated metro stations and construction of viaduct length 38.40 km (including 4.33 km of double decker 4 lane flyover cum metro viaduct) 1 no. underground metro station and 32 nos. elevated metro stations on EPC basis for Phase-1 of Visakhapatnam Metro Rail in Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh with an aggregate value of Rs 6,250 crore.
In the Water Supply sector, tendering activity declined significantly, with 2,827 tenders worth ₹53,789.26 crore floated in H1-FY26 compared to 9,071 tenders worth ₹60,678.77 crore during the same period of the previous year.
The Public Health Engineering Department, Rajasthan invited bids for the construction of Intermediate CWPH at Kotra (Baseri), laying of clear water transmission main from Kotra to Naroli, Nadbai via junction 2 at Naroli, IPS Nadbai, Nagar, Ramgarh, Kishangarhbas Tijara (Jairoli) and Bhiwadi, from Kishanbas to Mandawar and upto Behror, from Naroli Jn to KNP Bharatpur and Naroli construction of CWR and intermediate pump houses and offtakes construction of terminal CWRS at Bhiwadi and Behror under Jal Jeevan Mission with 10 years O&M including one year defect liability period for Chambal Alwar Project Package-II in Rajasthan on Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM). The aggregate value of the tenders was Rs 2,386.57 crore.
The Ports sector witnessed publishing of 28 tenders worth Rs 19,588.25 crore in H1-FY26. The most notable tender was floated by Vadhavan Port Project for the development and maintenance of land to be created in offshore of Vadhvan coast by dredging, reclamation and construction of offshore protection bund for Vadhvan Port in Raigarh district of Maharashtra on a PPP basis to be executed on hybrid annuity mode.
The Electricity sector saw issuance of 1,309 tenders worth Rs 34,390.98 crore in H1-FY26 as against 1,073 tenders worth Rs 22,284.86 crore in H1-FY25.
The NHPC floated a high-value tender worth Rs 17,069.79 crore for the construction main dam including coffer dam and HM works Lot-3 of Dibang Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh.
Reflecting the increased intention for setting up non-conventional power plants, during H1-FY26 around 621 tenders worth Rs 9,167.18 crore were issued in the Solar-based Power sector, while 133 tenders worth Rs 22,116.67 crore were published in the Hydel-based Power sector.
A year-on-year comparison of tendering activities in the Irrigation sector indicated a fall of 15 percent in terms of number of tenders and a 5.98 percent growth in terms of tender value. As against 2,662 tenders worth Rs 53,438.17 crore issued in H1-FY25, Irrigation sector issued 2,268 tenders worth Rs 56,633.53 crore in H1-FY26.
Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project Corpn. published a high-ticket tender worth Rs 4,138.39 crore for the construction of Mor Sagar artificial reservoir and feeder from Bisalpur to Mor Sagar artificial reservoir, including all components with its O&M for a period of 20 years in Rajasthan on Hybrid Annuity Model.
Water Resources Department, Bihar invited bids for extension, renovation and modernization (ERM) of Western Koshi Canal Project (Part-A) in Bihar. The aggregate value of the tender was Rs 3,484.24 crore.
In terms of tender value, the Mining sector registered a rise of 107 percent in terms of tender number and 21.40 percent in terms of tender value during H1-FY26 on a Y-o-Y basis.
As against 274 mining-related tenders worth Rs 4,044.63 crore issued in H1-FY25, 568 tenders worth Rs 4,910.04 crore were issued in H1-FY26.
The Eastern Coalfields floated a tender worth Rs 1,487.48 crore for working of virgin seam by underground B&P method with ccontinuous miner technology with development as a final operation with reduced pillar size for development and operation of Nimcha UG Mine at Nimcha Colliery, Satgram-Sripur area in West Bengal.
States
Bihar emerged as the top state in terms of tender value, issuing 4,704 tenders worth ₹1,23,233.33 crore in H1-FY26, a sharp increase from ₹42,546.71 crore during the same period last year. This surge in tendering activity can be attributed in part to the upcoming assembly elections in the state, which might have prompted the government to fast-track project announcements and accelerate infrastructure development initiatives to boost public spending.
Maharashtra replaced Rajasthan as the second ranker in terms of value of project tenders issued in H1-FY26. The state saw issuance of 4,097 project tenders valued at Rs 1,12,404.73 crore. The state was followed by Rajasthan with 3,409 project tenders worth Rs69,069.63 crore.
The top 10 states — Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh & Telangana - together accounted for 74.93 percent of the total number of tenders issued during H1-FY26. A total of 28,313 tenders worth Rs 6,03,668.79 crore were issued by these 10 states.
