The waiver from complying with Public Procurement Rules (PPR) for the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has been extended for another year up to June 2025.
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in a meeting with Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in the chair took the decision, reports UNB.
The finance minister virtually joined the meeting as he tested Corona positive after returning from abroad.
Briefing reporters about the meeting's outcomes, Md Mahmudul Hossain Khan, secretary of Coordination & Reforms at the Cabinet Division, said that after the approval, the state marketing agency TCB can import or procure any essential product through the direct purchase method (DPR).
"The TCB will not need to mandatorily follow the PPR when directly purchasing any product. This facility has been given to TCB so that it could collect products for low-income people who buy products from open market sales (OMS)," said the official.
He said sometimes TCB has to procure directly on an emergency basis as part of a market control mechanism.
Meanwhile, in a separate meeting, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) approved the TCB's proposal to procure 10,000 metric tonnes (MT) of lentils through an open tender process from local supplier Ease General Trading and Nabil Naba Food Products at a total cost of Tk 101.40 crore, with each kg costing Tk 101.84.
Of these, EASE Trading will supply 6,000 MT of lentils, while Nabil Naba will provide the remaining 4,000 MT. The product will be sold through OMS.
