Ministries’ power to approve procurement costs to be doubled

Now, the ministries can approve up to Tk50 crore cost in project-related procurement. If the cost is higher, it is sent to the cabinet committee on public purchase for approval. Finance Division officials said the plan to raise the delegation of financial power of ministries come as their activities have expanded over the time and the number of big projects is also increasing. “So, the procurement cost of above Tk100 crore will only be placed at the cabinet committee on public purchase,” an official said. On August 24, Finance Minister AMA Muhith approved the Finance Division’s proposal to raise the ministries’ power in procurement cost approval. The proposal is likely to be placed at the next cabinet meeting for its consent. According to the proposal, financial approval capacity of the ministries and divisions will be increased to Tk100 crore from the current Tk50 crore. Directorates, semi-government organisations and state-run industries under the ministries and divisions will consider the procurement cost up to Tk100 crore in development and non-development projects. Items for procurement include products, machinery, services and public works for implementing development and non-development projects. The proposal says for consultancy the figure will be up to Tk30 crore from existing Tk10 crore in development projects while for non-development projects it will be Tk20 crore. In fiscal year 2015-16, a total of Tk66,061 crore worth of development and non-development projects were placed at the cabinet committee on public purchase for its approval while in FY2012-13 the amount was only Tk8,026 crore. In FY2015-16, the number of below-Tk50 crore projects was 405 while the number of above-Tk100 crore projects was 605.