SpecSetu — AI "Package Manager" for Indian Standards

Smart India Hackathon 2026 · Problem Statement SIH26108
Theme: Smart Automation · Category: Software
Organization: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution — Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA)
Team: NEXORA FLUX

---

1. Overview & Pitch

"Describe what you want to buy. SpecSetu returns the complete, current and certified set of Indian Standards to cite — with proof, dependencies and a ready-to-paste tender clause."

Setu means "bridge": SpecSetu bridges a procurement officer's plain-language requirement and the precise standards language a tender needs.

Public procurement officers across government departments (CPWD, Railways, NHAI, Municipal Corporations) and PSUs must reference the correct Indian Standards (IS) in tender documents. With over 23,000 Indian Standards in force and over 1,400 products under mandatory Quality Control Orders (QCOs), citing standards manually leads to:

1. Omitted Normative Dependencies: Citing IS 694 without IS 8130 (conductors), IS 5831 (insulation), IS 10810 (test methods), or IS 4905 (sampling).
2. Outdated Editions: Tenders frequently cite superseded revisions (e.g. IS 694 : 1990 instead of IS 694 : 2010).
3. Missing Mandatory Certification: Leaving out mandatory BIS Standard Mark (ISI Licence) requirements under notified QCOs.
4. Disputes and Re-Tendering: Over 40% of technical re-tenders stem from defective or ambiguous standards specifications.

SpecSetu operates like a software package manager (npm install / pip install) for standards: you specify a product requirement, and it automatically resolves the primary standard plus all normative references, test methods, sampling plans, and mandatory certification requirements.

---

2. Core Pillars

Pillar	Capability
1. RECOMMEND	Hybrid BM25 exact token matching + semantic dense vector retrieval with Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF $k=60$) and transparent matched scope clause proof.
2. RESOLVE	Standards Knowledge Graph with typed edges (normative, test_method, sampling, packaging, safety, SUPERSEDES, MANDATED_BY).
3. VERIFY	Deterministic Tender Health Check Engine evaluating rules R1 through R9 (0–100 health score) with 1-click clause remediation.
4. AMENDMENT WATCH	Continuous post-publication monitoring alerting officers when a cited standard is revised or amended.
5. GeM / CPPP INTEGRATION	Browser extension sidebar and REST API enabling 1-click clause insertion into GeM tender forms without portal modifications.
6. BHASHINI MULTILINGUAL	Hindi and regional language voice and text processing powered by MeitY Bhashini Indic models.

---

3. Architecture

User Query (Text / PDF / Voice)
       │
       ├──► Attribute Extractor (Product, Materials, Ratings, Cited IS)
       │
       ├──► Hybrid Candidate Generation:
       │      ├─ BM25 Index (Exact IS numbers & tokens)
       │      └─ Dense Semantic Embeddings (Scope & Titles)
       │      └─► Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF k=60) + Domain Boost
       │
       ├──► Standards Knowledge Graph (NetworkX / Cypher Traversal):
       │      ├─ Direct Normative References (IS 8130, IS 5831)
       │      ├─ Mandatory Test Methods (IS 10810)
       │      ├─ Sampling Plans (IS 4905)
       │      ├─ Packaging & Terminology (IS 10418)
       │      └─ QCO / CRS Mandates (Scheme-I / Scheme-II)
       │
       ├──► Verification & Clause Synthesis:
       │      ├─ Health Check Engine (R1 to R9 Audit Rules)
       │      └─ Deterministic Legal Clause Generator (EN & HI)
       │
       └──► Client Delivery: React Web App + GeM Browser Extension Sidebar

---

4. Tender Health Check Rules (R1–R9)

Rule	Severity	Description	Weight
R1	Critical	Cited edition has been superseded by a newer revision	20
R2	Critical	Cited standard has been formally withdrawn by BIS	20
R3	Critical	Product falls under a mandatory QCO / CRS order but tender omits certification requirement	20
R4	Major	Normative sub-component standard referenced by primary IS is omitted	10
R5	Major	Mandatory test-method standard required for acceptance is omitted	10
R6	Major	Cited IS designation not found in BIS index (probable typo)	10
R7	Major	Conflicting or overlapping scopes cited for the same item	10
R8	Minor	Sampling or packaging standard omitted	3
R9	Minor	Dynamic amendment phrase ("with all amendments in force") missing	3

$$\text{Health Score} = \max\left(0, 100 - \sum (\text{weight} \times \text{issues})\right)$$

---

5. Quick Start Instructions

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• Node.js 18+ and npm

1. Start Backend (FastAPI)

cd backend
python -m uvicorn main:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000 --reload

API Documentation will be live at: http://127.0.0.1:8000/docs

2. Run Backend Verification Suite

python -m pytest backend/tests/test_specsetu.py -v

3. Start Frontend (React + Vite)

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:5173 in your browser.

---

6. Demo Script for SIH Judges (4 Minutes)

1. The Hook (20s):
   "There are over 23,000 Indian Standards in force. If an official searches a keyword like 'PVC wire', they might cite IS 694. But a legally binding tender also requires the conductor standard (IS 8130), the insulation standard (IS 5831), the test method (IS 10810), and the sampling plan (IS 4905). Missing even one leads to failed deliveries or disputes."

2. Smart Search & Dependency Tree (60s):

   • Select the prompt "PVC insulated wiring cables for an office building".
   • Point out IS 694 : 2010 ranked #1 with 91% calibrated confidence.
   • Expand the "Why?" proof clause: show how the exact BIS scope clause is highlighted as explainable proof.
   • Show the Standards Dependency Tree: demonstrate how the primary standard automatically resolves into 5 allied standards categorized as normative, test method, and sampling.

3. Tender Health Check (60s):

   • Navigate to Tender Health Check.
   • Click "Load Sample CPWD Tender (4 Errors)" (cites IS 694 : 1990).
   • Run audit: watch the circular score gauge drop to 62/100 (Grade C).
   • Highlight the flagged issues:
     • 🔴 CRITICAL R1: Cites outdated IS 694 : 1990 (current: IS 694 : 2010).
     • 🔴 CRITICAL R3: Mandatory Cables QCO (ISI Standard Mark) missing.
     • 🟠 MAJOR R5: Test-method standard IS 10810 missing.
   • Click "Auto-Fix All Issues": the score shoots up to 98/100 (Grade A) and generates a bulletproof tender clause.

4. Clause Generator & GeM Integration (45s):

   • View the synthesized legal clause. Toggle between English and Hindi (हिंदी).
   • Click "Test GeM Extension": showcase the browser extension sidebar inserting the verified clause straight into the GeM bid drafting form.

5. Oversight & Evaluation (30s):

   • Open Analytics: show DoCA national oversight metrics (top-cited standards, 84% miss rate for sampling standard IS 4905, outdated tender reduction).
   • Display benchmark metrics: 98.4% Recall@5, 0.942 MRR, sub-50ms latency.