The government has decided to procure vehicles for the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) through the direct purchase method without inviting tenders, approving the acquisition of three jeeps, 100 patrol pickup trucks and 60 air-conditioned microbuses from state-owned Pragati Industries Limited.
The decision was given a policy-level approval at a meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Economic Affairs held at the Secretariat on Tuesday, with Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed in the chair.
The procurement will be carried out under the project titled ‘Enhancement of Operational Capability of RAB Forces (1st Revised)’, aimed at strengthening the operational capacity of the elite force by addressing its vehicle shortage.
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Briefing journalists after the meeting, Adviser to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan said the committee approved the proposal to procure the vehicles through the direct purchase method instead of the Open Tender Method (OTM).
Responding to questions on the rationale behind the decision, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Nasimul Gani said the government intended to keep public funds within state-owned entities.
“Pragati Industries is the country’s first automobile manufacturing company and it is a fully state-owned one. That is why we have decided to procure the vehicles from this organisation,” he said.
When asked whether the vehicles would be delivered ahead of the upcoming national election, Nasimul Ghani clarified that the approval was not an election-driven one.
“Only policy approval has been given today. The procurement process will take time and the vehicles will arrive much later, in phases. This is merely a formal decision. After placing the order, Pragati will import the required components from Japan using the allocated funds,” he added.
Sources present at the meeting said the Ministry of Home Affairs placed the proposal for procuring the vehicles directly under the revised RAB capacity enhancement project, which subsequently received policy approval from the committee.
The project was originally approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on November 7, 2018, with an implementation period from December 1, 2018 to January 31, 2026.
The initiative aims to enhance RAB’s effectiveness and modernise its operations by addressing logistical constraints, particularly the shortage of vehicles.
Officials informed the meeting that the vehicles are urgently required in the 2025–26 fiscal year. As procurement through the OTM is time-consuming, the direct purchase method has been proposed under Section 68 of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2006, citing state emergency needs.
The move is intended to ensure effective law and order management and maintain operational readiness ahead of the national parliamentary election.
The day’s Economic Affairs Committee meeting approved another proposal in principle to withdraw the project titled ‘Construction of Multimodal Hub at Dhaka Bimanbandar Railway Station’ from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project list.
The proposal was placed by the Ministry of Railways. Following detailed discussions, the committee recommended the proposal for approval in principle.
The project had earlier received in-principle approval at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on October 17, 2018 for implementation under the PPP framework.
However, officials said the identified land was insufficient for the project’s requirements, no transaction adviser was appointed for feasibility studies, and no significant progress had been made, prompting the decision to withdraw it from the PPP list.
The Power and Energy Adviser said there were a total of five agenda items in the meeting for discussions.
Among them, one proposal came from the Ministry of Agriculture, one from the Ministry of Home Affairs, one from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, and two proposals from the Ministry of Railways.
He said the first proposal was related to providing regular subsidies to farmers affected by damage to potato cultivation. “The proposal has been sent back for further examination to ensure that the subsidy reaches genuine farmers through an appropriate mechanism,”
Besides, a proposal by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division to transport gas in LNG form from Bhola via inland waterways for direct supply to industrial establishments under Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution PLC through the Bangladesh Navy was withdrawn from the meeting.