Request for Proposal (RFP)
Travel Management Services –
CIMMYT INDIA & BISA
1. Introduction
1.1 CIMMYT is a non-profit agricultural research and training center headquartered in Mexico (CIMMYT is the acronym for our name in Spanish: Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo). The Center is committed to ensuring food security and reducing poverty in the Global South. Through strong science and effective partnerships, CIMMYT creates, uses, and shares knowledge and technology to improve wheat and maize farming systems' productivity and profitability and sustain natural resources. International and regional development agencies, national governments, private foundations, and the private sector fund the Center. CIMMYT is a Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) member.
CIMMYT has had an enormous impact in the global south. It is the center of excellence for work on two of the three most important food crops in the Global South. Its most famous employee, Dr. Norman Borlaug, is credited by many for saving more lives than any other individual in the history of the world. Borlaug’s work dramatically increased wheat yields in the Indo-Gangetic Plains in the 1960s and 1970s, saving hundreds of millions from starvation. For this work, Borlaug received the Nobel Prize in 1970. Scores of other CIMMYT INDIA efforts have saved or enriched millions of lives, from developing disease-resistant varieties and varieties tolerant to drought, heat, and soil deficiencies, to deploying techniques that reduce farmer costs and post- harvest losses. In developing countries, wheat varieties developed by CIMMYT and its partners cover 75% of the area planted to modern wheat varieties.
1.2 Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) was established on October 5,2011, through an agreement between the Government of India (GoI) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (Spanish acronym CIMMYT) and was bolstered by the globally credible name of Nobel Laureate Norman Ernest Borlaug. The institution draws on the decades of experience and success by BISA, and a global network of partners in using research to generate tangible benefits for farmers internationally. BISA is supported by growing number of national stakeholders in South Asia. It is committed to stronger collaborations for accelerated impact, most prominently with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the three state governments (Punjab, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh) where BISA farms are located. The Government of India, through Notification S.O. 2815(E) issued under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947, granted certain privileges and immunities to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, the Borlaug Institute for South Asia, and their internationally recruited officers. This was done in support of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on 5 October 2011 for establishing BISA in India, providing an official legal framework for its operations in the country.
The Government of India, through Notification S.O. 2815(E) issued under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947, granted certain privileges and immunities to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, the Borlaug Institute for South Asia, and their internationally recruited officers. This was done in support of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on 5 October 2011 for establishing BISA in India, providing an official legal framework for its operations in the country.
CIMMY India and BISA is soliciting bid proposals from reputed travel agencies interested in providing travel management services that CIMMYT INDIA & BISA regularly requires. The successful bidder shall be contracted for this purpose for an initial period of three (3) years with annual reviews at the end of each year that will inform renewal. CIMMYT INDIA & BISA will use the first six (6) months to assess the vendor’s performance based on the KPIs provided with the report determining continuous engagement. The contract may be extended for a second three (3) year period upon successful performance in the first period and continued price reasonability and operational reality.
2. Scope and description of services
CIMMYT INDIA & BISA wishes to contract the services of a qualified Travel Agency to provide travel management services, specifically supporting operations in India for its employees, consultants, trainees, visitors, and staff dependents.
Contract(s) with the qualified Travel Agency would cover travel management and related services, hereafter referred to as “travel services”. Travel services shall include, but will not be limited to: airline & railways ticketing and related services (airport transfer, hotel reservations, visa services, forex, travel insurance, car rental arrangements, Groups, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) needed for travel planning and preparing suitable itineraries (including alternative routings, departures and arrivals) at the lowest cost for staff members and/or their dependents (for official and non-official travel), consultants, visitors and participants attending meetings or traveling on official CIMMYT INDIA & BISA business.
3. Terms of Reference
The successful Travel Agency contracted to provide travel services to CIMMYT INDIA & BISA shall have the following minimum qualifications: namely, it must:
- Travel Services: Be an accredited IATA Travel Agency duly licensed and operating in India.
- Demonstrated SAP Concur integration capability
- Proven experience in MICE services and group travel
- Ability to provide secure ground transportation services (Airport pick-ups and drop-offs).
- Capability to deliver CO? emissions reporting
- Experience supporting multi-country operations
- Consider a configuration of services (Online, offline) with extended hours (staggered for dedicated agents).
- Have a good track record serving international organizations, embassies, and large multi-national corporations.
- Employ competent and experienced travel consultants, especially in ticketing and fare searching, as evidenced by their track record (curriculum vitae).
- Be financially capable of rendering services to the involved CIMMYT INDIA & BISA offices.
- The ability to be connected to Concur—online booking/airline reservation, international ticketing, and ticket printing facilities.
- VISA Services: Visa support services including document handling, coordination with embassies, and digital submission processes where applicable
- Be able to provide Hotel Arrangements and pre-payments.
- Be able to provide services for Meetings and Events -Groups.
- Be willing and able to guarantee the delivery of products and services following required performance standards.
- Be capable of linking ISOS Systems
- Provide Weekly and monthly reports (Including CO2 information).
- Sign the SLA and ensure 90% compliance.
- 24/7 emergency number dedicated to services.
- Provide solutions for NDC and Low-cost carriers' bookings out of the system
- Its senior travel experts should have the following minimum qualifications:
- A certified degree in tourism, or equivalent, and at least ten (10) years of practical experience in providing travel services and operating automated reservation and ticketing systems.
- English language.
- Be authorized to make decisions for the timely resolution of problems.
- In an emergency, the travel expert shall maintain the operations necessary to support CIMMYT INDIA & BISA; and
- 24-hour access to emergency services and delivery of tickets required by CIMMYT INDIA & BISA to the specified destinations.
The volume of business for CIMMYT INDIA is approx. USD 3,00,000 annually
The volume of business for BISA is approx. USD 1,00,000 annually
6.4 Bid submission
Two separate proposals, one each for CIMMYT INDIA and for BISA, must be submitted in hard copy. For each proposal, the technical and financial proposals should be sealed in separate envelopes. Both envelopes should then be enclosed within a master envelope, clearly labeled as either "RFP 2026: Travel Management Services for CIMMYT INDIA " or "RFP 2026: Travel Management Services for BISA". The address for submission (s) is provided below:
CIMMYT INDIA India
G-2, B-Block, National Agricultural Science Centre (NASC) Complex,
DPS Marg, New Delhi – 110012
Borlaug Institute for South Asia
G-2, B-Block, National Agricultural Science Centre (NASC) Complex,
DPS Marg, New Delhi – 110012
6.5 Bids shall be sent in English.
6.6 Bids should be sent in hard copy by courier, post, hand latest by Oct 20, 2026.
6.7 Late proposals
Any proposal received by the Business Services Department after the deadline for submission, under clause 6.6, will be rejected.
For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFP attached below.