National e-Government Procurement portal saves $600m per year

Since its launching in 2011, the National e-Government Procurement (e-GP) portal has so far invited six and a half lakh tenders and it is saving $600 million a year, the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) said yesterday.

Online tendering reduced the average time in procurement processing from 86.7 days to 58 days. This resulted in a saving of 105.3 crore pages of paper, said CPTU Director General Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury at a view exchange meeting with journalists at the organisation under the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).

Besides, the system cut the distance travelled by bidders by 49.7 crore km, which reduced carbon emissions by 1.53 lakh tonnes.

He also said the CPTU has been earning Tk400-450 crore in various sectors including tender processing. So far the organisation has deposited over Tk1,961 crore in the government treasury.

The CPTU director general said, "At present, 100% of the tender advertisements and contracts are published through the e-GP system. Around 99% of the tenders are awarded within the stipulated tender period."

He also said the number of registered bidders is more than one lakh. More than 6,500 branches of 59 banks are providing payment services to bidders across the country while online payment is also available. The e-GP has not stopped working even for a single day even amid the Covid-19 crisis.

CPTU officials told journalists that an initiative has been taken to check through the local citizens whether the government's online procurement system is meeting the standard. Locals inspected 316 contracts in 48 upazilas.

Outgoing IMED Secretary Abu Hena Morshed Zaman said, "There have been many changes in government procurement due to the work done on e-GP. The World Bank, which has provided financial and technical support for this work, appreciates this system. They are advising various other countries to follow Bangladesh's e-GP programme."

The CPTU, which has already achieved ISO certification, is a major part of the government's "Smart Bangladesh" plan.

A World Bank report raised allegations of various unethical practices among contractors, especially bribery of government officials, in the online procurement system.

When asked about this, Abu Hena Morshed Zaman said a summary on modernisation of government procurement has been submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase and sent to the Prime Minister's Office for final approval.