Dhaka, Aug. 1 -- Nearly half of the procurement contracts executed by the Central Medical Stores Depot (CMSD) during the 2023-24 fiscal year saw low bidder participation, raising concerns about competition, transparency, and value for money, reveals the recent Procurement Post Review of the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority (BPPA) under the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).

The review covering 30 contracts involving over Tk 650 million found that 12 of them, 40 per cent of the total, received only a single responsible bid, while several others saw just two or three participants.

Of the submitted bids, the most responsive ones came from a handful of familiar suppliers, and the quoted prices were often signif...