A total of 39 projects, involving $10 billion, have been queued up for implementation in different sectors under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) regime following a breakthrough, officials said.
They said some recent progress in project-selection and-approval process provided the stimulus.
It was learnt that the trend in PPP project development has accelerated, more than doubling the undertakings till May this year in comparison with the number recorded during corresponding period of last year.
The number of approved PPP projects had increased to 39 till last May from 17 of last year. The number was only seven in 2012.
According to an official document of the PPP Office, a dozen of such projects progressed up to investor procurement level this year-doubling from six in 2013 and only two in 2012.
The government set up the PPP Office under the Prime Minister's Office in the fiscal year 2009-2010 for the development of infrastructures under this latest paradigm for development works.   Â
However, the office ran the first year without any success due to various problems, including funding. Though the government raised an allocation of Tk 30 billion during the FY 2010-2011, it could also not be utilized till next year.
Officials said that PPP being a new concept to Bangladesh, the office took time to ready regulatory framework and institutional base for the PPP to take off during the first two years.
"It was necessary to make the PPP projects bankable to the private investors," said one official.
The government enacted the PPP law in 2013 and formulated policy and strategy, guidelines, screening manual etc to facilitate the run of PPP projects in the country.
A PPP project has to go through three stages to maturity level for the private investors.
After the project gets approval from the authorized body, the PPP Office engages advisors to conduct necessary studies, including project merits and technical viability. Thereafter, the project reaches the level of procurement, the officials said.
Official records show that at the advisory level, the PPP Office has 33 projects this year against 14 of last year. The number of PPP projects at this level in 2012 was only three.
Among these PPP projects, 30 are large-scale while four medium-sized and five small.
PPP Chief Executive Officer Syed Afsor H Uddin said the office is expected to experience a sizeable jump in preparing the PPP projects in next few years due to development of a system.
To make a PPP project mature at least 18 months are needed, he said, adding that the procurement stage, however, needs 12 to 16 months to be completed, depending on the project's worth.
Though the government signed the first concessionaire agreement with a Thai company for construction of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway in 2011, it was not done through the PPP Office.
The PPP Office finalised the procurement of its first PPP project recently to set up two haemodialysis centres-one in Dhaka and the other in Chittagong.
The officials said the Office is preparing to invite tenders for three projects this year, expecting an aggregate investment of US$500 million, for infrastructure and road communications development.
Besides, sources said, five more projects are also in the pipeline and tenders in this regard are to be floated next year.
The necessary groundwork like feasibility study, viability gap study etc. were completed to spur investors' confidence in undertaking these projects.
smunima@yahoo.com
39 projects queued up for execution under PPP
Munima Sultana | Published: October 21, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
Share if you like