The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has announced that it will now accept single bids for national highway projects under certain conditions. This decision, detailed in a circular issued on Wednesday, marks a departure from the previous mandate that required automatic rejection of single bids received during open bidding.
The revised policy introduces specific criteria for accepting single bids. These conditions include ensuring that the procurement process is adequately advertised, allowing sufficient time for bid submission, maintaining qualification criteria that are not excessively restrictive, and ensuring that bid prices are reasonable in comparison to market values. The circular stipulates that the Evaluation Committee will review the bid rates relative to similar contracts previously awarded.
This policy update overturns the guidelines established in 2008, which mandated the cancellation of single bids on the first call and required re-tendering. Under the earlier policy, single bids could only be considered post-retendering with the approval of the competent authority. The change aligns with observations from a 2021 note and the 2022 Manual for Procurement of Works issued by the Finance Ministry. The Finance Ministry noted that the blanket rejection of single bids and the subsequent re-tendering could result in increased costs and delays, thereby defeating the procurement process’s purpose. Furthermore, it was noted that re-tendering could lead to higher bid values, questioning the efficacy of dismissing single bids based solely on the number of bidders.
The new policy is expected to streamline the procurement process for national highway projects, potentially reducing delays and additional costs associated with re-tendering, while still ensuring competitive and fair bid evaluation.
