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thereby playing a vital role in analyzing prices for cost estimation of public projects. The one and only
mode available earlier for such estimation was PWD Schedule of Rates (SOR) which never got updated
for years because of the herculean efforts required to collect market data for numerous items every year.

In this backdrop, INAM-Pro+ platform provide real time information on such materials, equipment’s,
services to any user via digital mode by click of a button. MSMEs Start Ups and other businesses which
may provide same products at lower cost but could not access the market for want of marketing budgets
or digital presence can make use of INAM-Pro+ portal for promoting their products without any cost.
Thus, it also acts as a kind of electronic marketplace.

In this perspective, INAM-Pro+ platform was conceptualized to provide standard services to diverse
business domains in simplest manner and was named as INAM-Pro+ abbreviating for Infrastructure And
Material Providers.

Challenges faced

Prior to the development of this portal, the lack of a common marketplace led to the formation of a
segregated network of buyers, while at the other end of the spectrum the suppliers still remained
aggregated. This disparity gave way to cartelization and inflationary pressures on pricing of basic
materials like cement and steel. INAM-Pro+ effectively managed the prevailing situation by providing a
common platform wherein buyers are aggregated, and volatility in prices is controlled within the ceiling
price.

Another huge challenge was the practice of non-disclosure of prices of materials like sand, stone
aggregates etc. These sellers have traditionally been very secretive about their prices, and did not prefer
disclosing their rates to evade taxes etc. This even led to cartel formations which were disruptive to
competition in the industry. Like Cement and other materials often witnessed artificially inflated prices
due to hoarding practices prevalent in the industry. This led to not only escalated project costs but also
delayed project execution due to the artificial shortages.

Another challenge was the lack of transparency and existence of middlemen between buyers and
suppliers resulting into exorbitant rent-seeking/ brokerage etc. INAM-Pro+ ensures swift transfer of
payments and resources between buyers and suppliers without any middle men and brings transparency
in infrastructure projects by ensuring that all information about sources of procurement, prices etc. are
available in public domain.

Besides above, multiple challenges came in the way to development and implementation of this portal.
Save the new millennia industries, most Indian raw material supplying industries have traditionally not
operated online. These industries were therefore, not forthcoming to the idea of shifting their operations
online. The shift from offline to online required large scale persuasion and education.

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