The government’s multi billion-rupee tender to buy 1,775 diesel-powered double cabs will close on Tuesday – 7 working days since it was first advertised – after the Finance Ministry refused to change its terms.
According to a letter issued by an Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, seen by the Sunday Times, “a few bidders” have submitted clarifications to amend certain terms and specifications of the procurement document.
In keeping with the decision of the standard high-level procurement committee, however, no further amendments will be made to the procurement documents. It states that interested parties should submit their bids
in accordance with the current specifications.
The Sunday Times reported last week that the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development floated a tender on October 23, to purchase 1,775 diesel-powered double cabs for the state sector, allowing interested parties just 12 days – or 7 working days – to submit bids. The method adopted is the national competitive bidding (NCB) procedure.
Tender documents for the brand-new four-wheel-drive automatic transmission diesel double cabs were available for purchase between October 23 (the date the procurement was advertised) and November 3. The bid closing date is 2 pm on November 4.
Interested parties told the Sunday Times that only one company in the vehicle market, Toyota Lanka, is qualified to submit a bid for the tender under the given specifications. All other brands – Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Ford and Mazda are disqualified at the outset, under one or more conditions.
It was not immediately clear why such a costly tender was being closed at short notice. The new National Procurement Guidelines issued last year state that “the bidding period shall be reasonably adequate for preparing and submitting the bids/proposals”.
The new National Procurement Manual mandates that the minimum bidding period for NCB or limited national bidding (LNB) for tenders valued more than or equal to Rs 50mn is 21 calendar days.
For international competitive bidding or limited international bidding, the minimum bidding period is 42 calendar days. It is 7 calendar days only for national shopping tenders (the purchase of readily available, off-the-shelf goods or standard services that are generally low in value or volume) or requests for quotations.
In the case of emergency procurements, the bidding period “shall be reasonable and practical, depending on the situation”. The double cab tender does not fit into these categories.
The current selling price of an automatic transmission double cab is between Rs 23 million and Rs 24.7 million, inquiries by the Sunday Times revealed. At the lower limit, this places the value of the Finance Ministry’s tender at Rs 40.8bn. (The cost, insurance and freight value – which is pre-tax – was not obtainable).
The procurement manual also states that a prospective bidder must be allowed sufficient time before the date of bid/or proposal closing to inform the procurement entity – in this case, the Ministry of Finance – in writing if any clarification of the procurement documents is required. Given the short deadline for the double cab tender, however, there is no time even for a pre-bid meeting.
- https://www.sundaytimes.lk/251102/n...e-cabs-leaves-bidders-in-the-dust-619737.html
