The government is going ahead with a proposal it had abandoned citing “unusually high prices” to buy 2.0 million machine-readable passports (MRPs) and as many lamination foils.
The prices offered by ID Global Solutions Limited were 67 per cent more than the price at which the products had been bought earlier, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said after withdrawing the proposal on Nov 27.
After a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase on Thursday, he said it cleared the proposal as the previous decision was taken following “wrong estimates”.
“We estimated the amount based on the main project cleared by the ECNEC. But costs have increased at different times and the DPP [direct purchase plan] has been amended,” he said.
The government would purchase the materials to swiftly meet the growing demand for MRPs, Kamal said.
The MRPs and lamination foils will cost over Tk 530 million, according to bdnews24.com.
“We are also trying to move on to e-passport,” the minister said.
Citing the home ministry, he said it would take two three more months to start the distribution of electronic passports.
