The government is going to purchase 261 vehicles at Tk 381 crore from the state-owned assemblers Pragati, said public administration minister Farhad Hossain on Wednesday.
He said that the purchase of vehicles would be done as per decision taken at a meeting of the cabinet committee on government purchase held on May 15.
Finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali presided over the meeting virtually and gave the approval despite financial downturn forcing the government to borrow $4.7 billion dollar to tackle the shortage of dollars.
Farhad Hossain said that they were waiting for further approval regarding the purchase proposal from the higher authority.
Farhad Hossain added that the cars would be utilised by deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers.聽聽聽
He also said that they were expecting to receive 50 vehicles worth Tk 1.45 crore from the Pragati in the next 30 days, while others in phases over the next one year.
He calculated that over Tk 1.0 crore would be paid for duty and value added tax against each of the car.
In October 2023, the same proposals were sent back by the cabinet committee on purchase with some observations, including necessity of purchasing vehicle amid the dollar shortage.
Farhad Hossain said that they were able to convince the committee about the necessity of purchasing the vehicles to replace the aged-old ones.
He claimed that most of the vehicles in district and upazila levels were purchased 17 year back.