Sustainable Local Markets through Public Procurement of Innovation: Comparative Insights from Assam’s Handloom and Tripura’s Bamboo Sectors

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-950-6_9How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Public procurement of innovation; Sustainable public procurement; Mission-oriented policy; Handloom; Bamboo; Northeast India

Abstract

Public procurement has developed into a strategic instrument for steering markets, driving innovation, and promoting sustainability. Based on a comparative case study of Assam’s handloom and handicraft sector and Tripura’s bamboo enterprises, this paper explores how Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI) can be designed to create stable demand for indigenous products while enabling process upgrades and delivering social and ecological benefits. Drawing on mission-oriented policy and innovation-systems perspectives, the study examines three analytical dimensions: market creation, innovation enablement, and sustainability outcomes; it also synthesises evidence from official policies, statistical reports, tender notices, and academic literature. The findings show that market creation through procurement is poorly institutionalised in Assam’s handloom sector, whereas Tripura’s bamboo sector has incipient but non-systemic procurement linkages. Innovation enablement appears inconsistent; bamboo clusters have benefited from upgrades in treatment and processing, while handloom remains technologically stagnant without functional tendering or supplier-development clauses. Sustainability outcomes vary by sector; handloom focuses on social and cultural value (women’s livelihoods, heritage), while bamboo offers ecological substitution (renewable materials), yet both lack robust procurement standards and certification frameworks. The paper provides a contextualised account of PPI within indigenous industries in Northeast India. It proposes actionable design features, mandatory procurement quotas, outcome-based specifications, supplier-training provisions, and sustainability standards to align public expenditure with SDGs 8, 9, and 12.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Y. Monojit Singha
AU  - Dhiraj Kumar Borkotoky
AU  - S. Bebita Devi
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/29
TI  - Sustainable Local Markets through Public Procurement of Innovation: Comparative Insights from Assam’s Handloom and Tripura’s Bamboo Sectors
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart Systems and Social Management (ICSSSM 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 104
EP  - 126
SN  - 1951-6851
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-950-6_9
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-950-6_9
ID  - Singha2025
ER  -