The cabinet committee on economic affairs yesterday approved the unsolicited proposal policy for the PPP initiative, under which 6% bonus evaluation points will be offered to the innovative entrepreneurs.
A meeting of the committee – presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith – gave the approval for the policy which came from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), as well as approving other recommendations made by the Finance Division, said Cabinet Division’s Additional Secretary Mustafizur Rahman.
He added that the policy will incorporate Swiss challenge, which is a form of public procurement that requires a public authority – which has received an unsolicited bid for a public project – to publish the bid and invite third parties to match or exceed it.
The Finance Division also recommended that the government fix a bonus system for evaluating an original, innovative entrepreneur.
Fazle Kabir, the immediate past finance secretary, came up with the recommendations last week after the PMO sought opinions about the PPP’s unsolicited proposals.
“Private innovators or creative entrepreneurs will get tariff benefits and added duration for project implementation,” said Kabir.
As per the approved policy, bonus and a Swiss challenge of benefits will be given to the private innovators and creative entrepreneurs for the development of the country’s infrastructure.
The policy has 19 determining factors in three schedules including two types of bonus and a Swiss challenge process for dealing with the unsolicited proposals.
However, the proposal from the PMO also noted that other bidders might be discouraged from participating in the tender if more bonus points were given to new entrepreneurs.
The government has allocated Tk257 crore for the 33 PPP projects expected to be implemented in the fiscal year 2015. The PPP budget is 3.4% of the total allocations in physical infrastructures, which is set to get Tk7,550 crore.
A total of 34 projects under six sectors have already been approved in principle and advisers or consultants have already been engaged in 33 projects, according to the PPP office.
The costs of the approved PPP projects are estimated to be Tk1,114 crore, mainly in transport, health, education and tourism sectors.
The construction of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway, jetties at Mongla Port, a Haemodialysis Centre, a flyover from Shantinagar to Mawa Road via Buriganga River Bridge and Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway are among the major PPP projects that have been approved so far.