Reading an IREPS tender: schedules, advertised value, and the percentage you should quote
8 min read · Last reviewed 7 August 2026
An IREPS tender document runs to dozens of pages and most of it is boilerplate. Four things decide whether the work is worth having: how the schedules are structured, what the advertised value contains, how you are expected to bid, and what the job will actually cost you.
This guide covers the first three. The fourth is your own arithmetic — but the last section shows how to turn it into a number.
Schedules: SOR and NS
Work is grouped into schedules, and the codes tell you which kind you are looking at. Schedules coded A1, A2, B1 and so on are scheduled items — rates come from the Schedule of Rates, whether USSOR, DSR or the zonal schedule. Schedules marked NS are non-scheduled: items with no published rate, priced individually.
The distinction matters for how you bid and for how deductions are later calculated. One warning from experience: detect NS as a whole word. Searching for the letters "ns" inside item text will match ordinary words like "inside" and quietly reclassify a scheduled schedule.
Advertised value: what the number contains
Each schedule carries an advertised value, and the tender total is their sum. That figure is the sum of every item's quantity multiplied by its rate — including any escalation already applied to the schedule.
This is worth checking rather than trusting. When you extract items from the document and add them up, the total should match the advertised value within a rupee or two. If it does not, you have either missed items, double-counted a sub-work, or dropped an escalation percentage — and the quote you build on top will be wrong by the same amount.
How you are expected to bid
Two styles appear, and a single tender can contain both.
- Percentage bidding — you quote one figure for the whole schedule: at par, or a percentage above or below the advertised value. Common for SOR schedules, where the rates are already published and the only variable is your margin.
- Item-rate bidding — you quote a rate against each item. Common for NS schedules, where there is no published rate to bid a percentage against.
Escalation
Some schedules carry an escalation percentage, applied to the base rate to reflect the gap between the year the schedule was published and the year the work is done. What Railway actually pays is the escalated rate, not the book rate.
If you cost against the book rate and forget the escalation, every figure downstream is understated — your break-even, your margin and your quote. Take the rate the tender will actually pay: base rate multiplied by one plus the escalation percentage.
Working out what to quote
A quote has to cover more than the work. Five things come out of the money before any profit does.
- Your cost — materials and labour, at today's prices rather than the schedule's.
- Net GST — the GST inside your quote, less the input credit you can claim on purchases.
- BOCW cess at 1% of the contract value.
- Site overheads for the contract duration — engineer, watchman, water, power, insurance. Rarely nil, and usually forgotten.
- Whatever the tender deducts: security deposit, retention, and any TDS.
Cost of work 2,16,78,000 Site overheads (4% of cost) 8,67,120 Target profit at 10% of cost 21,67,800 Net GST and 1% cess are levied on the quote, which is the number being solved for, so the arithmetic runs in a circle and settles at: Quote 2,59,58,688 Railway pays at par 2,09,57,670 Required bid 23.9% above par
Before you bid: eligibility
The technical eligibility conditions sit near the end of the document and decide whether your bid is even opened. They typically cover annual turnover over the last three years, similar works completed of a stated value, the engineer you must deploy, and a clean record on debarment.
Read them before costing, not after. There is no sense pricing a tender you cannot submit.
Common questions
- What is the difference between SOR and NS items in a railway tender?
- SOR items are scheduled — their rates come from a published Schedule of Rates such as USSOR or DSR, and the schedule is usually bid as a single percentage above, below or at par. NS items are non-scheduled, have no published rate, and are quoted rate by rate.
- Does the advertised value include escalation?
- Yes. The advertised value of a schedule is the sum of quantity times rate for every item in it, with any escalation applied. If your extracted items do not add up to the advertised value, something has been missed, duplicated, or costed at the un-escalated book rate.
- What does bidding "at par" mean?
- Quoting exactly the advertised value — zero percent above or below. Above par means you are asking more than the schedule rates, below par means less.
- What should a tender quote cover besides the cost of work?
- Net GST after input credit, BOCW cess at 1% of contract value, site overheads for the whole contract duration, any security deposit or retention held back, and your profit. Overheads and cess are the two most often left out, and together they can exceed the margin.
Related guides
- SOP 2018 rate reduction: what happens when you execute more than the agreement quantity
How Indian Railways reduces your rate when executed quantity exceeds the agreement: the 125% and 140% thresholds, the 2% and 4% cuts, the minor-value exception, and a worked example.
- GST TDS on works contracts: who can deduct it, and what happens down a sub-contract chain
GST TDS under Section 51 explained for civil contractors: who is allowed to deduct 2%, how to claim it, and what it means when a main contractor passes the deduction down to you.