An Analysis of Translation services Tenders in India
Translation services refers to the professional service of converting written or spoken content from one language to another. These services are crucial for individuals, businesses, or organizations that require accurate and culturally appropriate translations for documents, websites, legal texts, marketing materials, and more. Translation services help bridge language barriers, ensuring effective communication and understanding across diverse linguistic contexts. Professional translators are skilled in preserving the meaning, tone, and nuances of the original text while delivering a coherent and accurate rendition in the target language.
Just as it is with the procurement of works and goods, the Government is required to advertise and select translation service providers using a tendering process. This procedural requirement is in place to ensure transparency in the contract awarding process. Governments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) publish tenders for translation services to help translate their important documents and messages. While Hindi and English are the primary languages in use, India recognizes 22 official languages. Many communications issued by the Government officials will need to be translated in multiple languages across all the States in India. For instance, awareness creation efforts undertaken by the government will typically need to be published in the concerned regional language and in English as well. Similarly, official communications such as the laws, government orders and regulations issued by a government are typically translated and published in multiple languages. Also, thousands of government websites are published in multiple languages. The need for translation services is not limited to Indian languages. A few government agencies advertised tenders for translating documents and interpretation conversations from foreign languages such as French and German to Indian languages.
An analysis of translation services tendered by the government agencies is provided herein. Based on information gathered by Tendersniper from different public sources, Indian government agencies have jointly released 97 tenders for translation services in the past 12 months (from October 2022 to October 2023). In this context, Delhi is particularly notable, contributing 29 tenders, which make up roughly 30% of the total, followed by Kerala with 15 tenders. These opportunities for procurement span various sectors, encompassing social welfare, banking, rural development, education, and sports. Further details regarding the distribution of translation services across different sectors are presented below.
Higher education institutions stand as the primary issuers of tenders for translation services, especially considering the expansive higher education ecosystem in India, which encompasses over 1000 universities and 42,000 colleges. Given the large number of higher education institutions in India, there is a substantial requirement for translation services from the government. For instance, Delhi university released tenders for a panel of translation agencies handling English to Hindi translations, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras sought services for translating major Indic languages, speech-to-speech translation of video lectures into 11 Indian languages, and audio transcription in Indic languages using collected speech data. Additionally, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi procured tenders for the transliteration of their website. Indian Maritime University also issued tenders for the translation of documents from English to Hindi, and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) published tenders for translating the UNESCO UP Report.
In addition to the education sector, government owned industries, such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), issued tenders for language services. Spices Board India invited tenders for the translation of conference documents, while Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) invited proposals for a multilingual translation hub services. Hindustan Copper Limited released tenders for the translation service, specifically from English to Hindi. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited also issued tenders for translation services, covering documents in French, Arabic, Russian, Vietnamese to English, and vice versa.
Legal and judicial sectors within the government are significant consumers of translation services. Notably, entities such as the High Court of Madhya Pradesh Jabalpur and the Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur actively seek translation services through issued tenders. These services are specifically procured for the translation of judgments from the Hon’ble Supreme Court and Hon’ble High Court. Such initiatives underscore the critical role translation plays in facilitating communication and ensuring legal documents are accessible and comprehensible within the legal framework, promoting transparency and efficiency in the judicial process.
Entities within the social welfare sector, such as the Minorities Welfare Department of Uttar Pradesh, have released tenders to outsource manpower for Urdu translators. These initiatives aim to ensure that welfare programs are accessible to Urdu-speaking minority communities, fostering equitable engagement. Additionally, the Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research has released tenders for the scientific translation of four training modules.
The Additional Skill Acquisition Programme in Kerala has issued tenders to appoint a Malayalam language translator in the skill development sector. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has invited tenders for a range of language services, including translation, transliteration, transcreation, and transcription.
Several other government entities are actively engaged in the procurement of language services, showcasing the diverse linguistic requirements across sectors. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Limited, for instance, has recently released tenders for the translation, typing, and revision of their Annual Report from English to Hindi. Similarly, the Department of Archives has sought tenders for the transliteration of Marathi documents for preserving and making historical records accessible in regional languages. Additionally, the Directorate General of Shipping issued tenders for outsourcing a junior Hindi translator. The Spices Board India has released tenders for simultaneous in-session interpretation services.
The translation service tenders are open for individuals and firms. Also, few government agencies have sought to empanel a set of professional translators valid for a certain period of time. During this period, any translation opportunities advertised by the agency will be restricted only to the empanelled set of vendors. Given which, the translation professionals need to find such opportunities in a timely manner and get empanelled.
As of December 26th, 2023, there are three live tenders for translation services. Uttar Pradesh is in the forefront with two tenders, making up 67%, while Maharashtra has one tender, accounting for 33% of the total. This distribution emphasizes the widespread engagement of government agencies throughout India in soliciting tenders for translation services.
This analysis underscores a substantial need for translation tenders across India, primarily advertised by education and industry development departments. Individuals or entities offering translation services stand to benefit significantly from participating in these government agency tenders in India.
