• About Procurement iNET
  • Team

  • The World’s Largest Integrated Initiative in Public Procurement!

    Public Procurement forms a significant portion of any country’s spend. However, capacity building in this field has been lacking. Procurement iNET, short for Information, Networking, Education and Transaction, aspires to become the digital space for public procurement professionals from around the world.

    Procurement iNET will keep them informed about the latest practices, policies and more. Public procurement professionals may need to research and source specific information. They will have access to an observatory. To keep them informed of the latest happenings, a periodical eZine will be circulated to all registered members. Videos from experts will be made available to become aware and knowledgeable.

    Procurement iNET will also allow the professionals to network with each other. They could identify people similar to them and reach out via the platform to connect, interact and learn & share with those whom they identify with. What’s more, all this within the platform, without sharing private information or credentials.

    The platform will also provide many structured courses to enhance knowledge and skills in public procurement. These courses, developed in collaboration with leading procurement professionals, are designed to help enhance capacity in public procurement. Based on the success of the English version of the certificate course, variants in 6 languages are on offer. For the serious practitioners, Diploma programs are being made available.

    Last, but not the least, no such platform will be complete without the ability to transact. Procurement iNET platform has commenced highlighting global opportunities available for those pursuing a career in public procurement.

    Procurement iNET - The World’s Largest Integrated Initiative in Public Procurement!

    The journey towards Procurement iNET…

  • Core Task Team

    Robin Kumar Thakur

    Task Team Leader – Core Task Team
    Robin Kumar Thakur is a Procurement Specialist in the Governance Global Practice of the World Bank based at New Delhi office. He has more than 15 years of professional experience of which 09 years are in development work with the World Bank. He manages a complex procurement portfolio of 14 investment projects across various sectors like Energy, Water, Urban, Health, Education, Agriculture etc. In addition to his fiduciary responsibilities, he has been actively involved in various procurement reforms at federal and state levels. His areas of interest are PPP transactions, Procurement analytics, Contract Dispute Resolution etc.
    He holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering and a Master's degree in Supply Chain Management. He also possesses several professional certifications namely, MCIPS awarded by CIPS UK, Public Private Partnership (full certification) awarded by APMG UK, PMP awarded by PMI USA, and so on.
    Robin K. Thakur can be contacted at rthakur@worldbank.org

    Sivaramakrishnan Kumar (Kumar)

    Core Task Team
    Sivaramakrishnan Kumar (Kumar) is working with the World Bank Procurement team in India since 2016 and supports the team in administration and client support. He carries with him excellent knowledge management and networking skill. Kumar has core expertise in areas of administration, secretarial, public relation and human resource functions. Kumar is a self-driven professional with history of delivering on challenging assignments. Prior to the World Bank, Kumar had spent about 26 years in various capacities working with the senior management teams in the private sector.
    Kumar has a degree in Bachelor of Arts from University of Delhi and currently pursuing Masters in Gender and Developmental Studies from Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. He has recently completed a certificate program in Public Private Partnership from All India Management Association, New Delhi. Kumar believes in life-long learning and continues to invest his time and effort in learning new skills.
    Kumar can be contacted at kumarsiva@worldbank.org

    Team Members

    Shanker Lal

    Mr. Shanker Lal is a Senior Procurement Specialist at the Public Integrity and Openness (PIO) Department of the Governance Global Practice (GGP) of the World Bank and is based in New Delhi (India). He has a post graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-BHU), Varanasi and Graduate Diploma (MCIPS) in Purchasing & Supply from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), U.K.
    He Joined the World Bank in 2006. He is currently the Country Focal Point (Procurement) for India and is heading 15 member India Procurement Team. Apart from providing procurement support to many lending operations in India, he has been working on procurement capacity building and procurement reform initiatives. He has also supported Projects in some South Asian countries and in Central Asia.
    Before joining the World Bank, he was working for Department for International Development (DFID), Government of U.K. at New Delhi office as deputy head of Contracts section. His current areas of interest are framework agreements, dispute resolution mechanisms, demand-side procurement reforms, procurement performance benchmarking and open contract data.
    Mr. Lal can be contacted at shanker@worldbank.org