The Prime Minister’s Office is likely to place the policy on unsolicited proposals under Public Private Partnership (PPP) before a meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs amid slow progress in the PPP projects, including the Dhaka elevated expressway, official sources said.
Without making the policy on unsolicited proposals, the government cannot prepare and finance these infrastructure projects, said a senior official of the PPP office.
The official said unsolicited proposals are coming from innovative ideas through new technology and management projects which help develop the local infrastructure projects.
Principal Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office Abdus Sobhan Sikder sent a proposal titled “The procedures for implementation of PPP policy and strategy for unsolicited proposals 2014” to the cabinet committee on economic affairs which is likely to be placed before the meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs next week.
Private innovators or creative entrepreneurs will get the benefits of tariff and project duration, he said.
As per the unsolicited proposal policy of the PPP projects, bonus and Swiss challenge of benefits will be given to the private innovators and creative entrepreneurs for the development of the country’s infrastructures.
According to the proposal, 5-10% bonus will be given to new or original entrepreneurs, but it also said other tender bidders will be discouraged from participating in the tender if more bonus is given to new entrepreneurs.
Under the policy on unsolicited proposals, there are a total of 19 determining factors in three schedules, including two types of bonus and Swiss challenge.
The government had allocated Tk257 crore for the project to be implemented under PPP in the fiscal year 2015. The PPP budget is 3.4% of the total allocations of physical infrastructure that is set to get Tk7550 crore.
The project was awarded to an Italian-Thai joint venture in 2010. The construction of the 21km expressway involving Tk8,703 crore was scheduled to start in July 2011, with 42 months time to complete. But the joint venture failed to secure the initial investment and the fate of the project hangs in the balance. New problems emerged over partial land acquisition as well.
In his budget speech the finance minister said, “In order to attract private investment for infrastructure development, we will encourage implementation of projects through PPP.”
He said 34 projects under six sectors had already been approved in principle and advisers or consultants had also been engaged in the 33 projects.
The minister said this is the first step toward the implementation of the projects and it is expected that the PPP legislation would be placed at the parliament shortly.
The costs of the approved PPP projects are estimated to be $1114 crore, mainly in transport, health, education and tourism sectors.
The construction of the Dhaka elevated expressway, jetties in Mongla Port, Hemodialysis Centre, a flyover from Shantinagar to Mawa Road via bridge over the Buriganga River and Dhaka-Ashulia elevated expressway are among the major PPP projects which have got approval.
The latest developments in the PPP are issuance of gazette notification of PPP policy and guidelines 2010, guidelines and scheme for using viability gap fund and establishment of PPP office under the Prime Minister’s Office.