As a move to go for full-fledged electronic tendering, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has set a new target to call 1,400 tenders through the central procurement technical unit (CPTU) by June.
Officials said the department has successfully met the e-tender target of December by exceeding the number at 776 against 400.
They said by increasing the target of e-tender submission every six months, the RHD is heading towards meeting its target to go for online tender system fully by next year.
The RHD started the e-tender submission after the Prime Minister inaugurated the electronic government procurement on June 2, 1011. In the pilot phase, the department was able to put e-tendering into practice in Dhaka and Comilla zones against four zones.
Afterwards, the RHD officials said the e-tender increased to 176 against the target of 100 from June 2012 to June 2013. The figure, however, went up to 776 by December last against the target of 400.
"It is now easy for us to submit tenders electronically as our capacity on e-tender submission has been improving with the passage of time. So has been the capacity of tender-participating firms," said an official, preferring not to be named.
Though there are still some technical problems remaining in the process of submission, the official, however, said it would also be removed gradually.
An executive engineer of the RHD said initially there was confusion among contractors about effectiveness of e-tender system. This has now gradually gone.
He said due to e-tendering, anyone can now participate in the tender process which has earlier been difficult due to influence of musclemen.
Besides, the RHD officials said e-tender has reduced the expenditures of the department as well as of the participating firms in terms of cost of papers and communication. This is because everything is now done online by registering the names from their own places.
"No one can know who is participating in the tender," said the executive engineer.
When asked about possibility of any corruption in the tender process done electronically, an expert said, it has also been reduced as selection of the firms is done online by evaluating the tenders by the committee members separately.
He, however, suggested keeping trained personnel in proper desks as it is in banks so that work order and process of procurement are also done without any hassle.
When a trained official is transferred to another desk, it affects the system, the RHD officials said.
The RHD had earlier a system named central management system to call and submit tenders electronically. This has been transformed through the system of electronic government procurement run by the CPTU. The CPTU has introduced the EGP in four agencies - the RHD, the Local Government and Engineering Department, the Rural Electrification Board and the Water Development Board.
The CPTU, established in April 2002 as a unit within the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the Ministry of Planning, is tasked with procurement monitoring, coordination and management.
Through the CPTU, the interested companies can submit their tenders through registration and login.
The RHD officials said against the submission of e-tender, around 250 work orders have already been given.
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