Dhaka, February 25, 2025:
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has commented that the market capture of government procurement has taken institutional form in the tripartite nexus of bureaucracy, contractors and political forces.
At a press conference organized to release a research report titled “Bangladesh’s e-Procurement: Monopolistic Market, Collusion and Political Influence”, the organization said that a circle of influential contractors has been hindering healthy competition through unethical practices by taking advantage of legal weaknesses. The organization commented that even though top orders have changed hands in some cases due to changes in leadership at the top levels of ministries or government agencies, market control continues. Based on this research, TIB has made six-point recommendations to ensure good governance in government procurement.
Overall Picture
Analysis of data from 666,474 procurements conducted by 66 ministries and departments of the country through the e-GP platform during 2012-2024 revealed that since its launch in 2011, Bangladesh has spent Tk 5,96,921 crore through the e-GP platform. The highest contract value recorded through this system is Tk 881 crore. All contracts worth more than this are outside the platform. The top 5 percent contractors in the top 10 ministries captured 61.31 percent of the total contract value, while the market share of the bottom 10 percent contractors was less than 1 percent for all ministries.
Market Capture
In most ministries, the top 5 percent contractors increased their market share over the decade. The top 5 percent contractors in the Ministry of Housing and Public Works handled 74.96 percent of the total contract value. The capture of top contractors in the Ministry of Housing and Public Works increased by 15 percent, which is one of the highest increases. In addition, a 10 percent increase was observed in the Roads and Highways Department and the Ministry of Education.
Ministry-wise analysis (whose share is it?)
Road Transport and Highways Department: Only 11 percent (384) contractors completed 93.55 percent of the total contract value. 35 contractors captured 72.9 percent of the market.
Ministry of Water Resources: 9 percent (336) contractors completed 91.5 percent of the total contract value. Only 38 contractors captured 30.9 percent of the market.
Ministry of Housing and Public Works: 7.45 percent (607) contractors completed 71 percent of the total contract value. 81 contractors captured 32.32 percent of the market.
Local Government Department: 9.74 percent (2,865) contractors completed 62.88 percent of the total contract value. 294 contractors captured 27.7 percent of the market.
Network of Collusion
The reason behind market capture is that top contractors form joint ventures to control large projects. The study found that 9 major contracting networks are active in the Roads and Highways Department. 12 major contracting communities have been identified in the Local Government Department and the Ministry of Education’s procurement. 11 contracting groups are active in the Ministry of Housing and Public Works. Top contractors have captured a large share of the market by forming joint ventures. The contract value at which these contractors have worked through joint ventures is five times that of the work obtained individually.
Political Influence
Changes in political leadership affect the dominance of certain top contractors in winning government projects. Changes in political leadership change the dominance of top contractors. In Chittagong City Corporation, a complete change in the top 10 contractors can be observed during the change of mayor. Again, in the case of Comilla City Corporation, it has been seen that the change of mayor has led to a change in the top contractor. Only two contractors got work during the two mayors’ terms, and the list of top contractors changed completely during the two terms. Similarly, a similar situation was seen during the change of the Minister of Industries.
TIB Executive Director Dr. Iftekharuzzaman said, “The government procurement sector is the most corrupt in the world, but in Bangladesh it has been plunged into a hostage situation in the hands of uncontrolled occupation. In one of our studies in 2018, we found that up to 27 percent of the total procurement budget is wasted due to corruption and irregularities in the institutional procurement sector. It was expected that through the e-GP system, it would be possible to reduce this loss, there would be open competition, corruption in the government procurement sector would be reduced and the maximum benefit would be obtained from the money spent. But the sad thing is that even though digitization was done through e-GP, corruption could not be controlled, open competition could not be ensured, rather, by encroaching on the electronic procurement system, the government procurement market has become more institutionalized in the tripartite alliance of bureaucracy, contractors and political forces. We can see that from 2012 to 2024, the top 10 ministries have spent more than 5 lakh crore taka on government procurement. Of which, 61 percent of the work orders were received by the top 5 percent contractors.
The rate of receiving these work orders by the ministry has exceeded 74 percent in some cases. That is, a large part of the market here is in the hands of influential contractors. Secondly, in addition to single control, influential contractors have used loopholes in the policy to take work orders through joint partnerships or joint ventures for the same purpose, blocking the way for open competition and further intensifying the occupation. Again, a review of the information from the e-GP authorities shows that if the leadership of the ministry or government agency changes, the top work ordersThe market has changed hands but market control has continued. This is irrefutable evidence of the institutionalization of political control in the procurement sector.’
The TIB Executive Director also said, ‘Whether the same situation will continue in the post-authoritarian political and bureaucratic context or not – the answer to this question will depend on the relevant laws and regulations and the timely reforms of the e-GP process. However, achieving real benefits in this case is impossible without positive changes in political and bureaucratic culture and practices.’
In response to questions from media workers, Mohammad Touhidul Islam, head of the research team and Director of TIB’s Outreach and Communication Department, said, ‘Irregularities are being legitimized by misapplication of existing laws related to e-GP, especially through joint ventures, the environment of open competition has been destroyed. One of the objectives of the e-GP promotion was to increase competition, but we do not see that picture, rather, we believe that the practice of capturing the market by capitalizing on the shortcomings of the law continues, so we think that this weak law needs to be reformed.
TIB’s recommendations include – BPPA to closely monitor joint venture companies so that there is no opportunity to capture the market through collusion; BPPA to formulate competition laws to break syndicates and limit the activities of joint ventures; setting a boundary between single contractors and joint ventures in terms of market share so that everyone gets equal opportunities; BPPA, including other organizations involved in the procurement process, to maintain international good practices and play a role in creating a competitive environment in the market instead of a monopolistic market system; amending the public procurement policy so that information on beneficial ownership of companies and joint ventures is open to everyone and quickly bringing contracts that were not made through the e-procurement process into the e-tendering process.
TIB Outreach and Communication Department Director Mohammad Touhidul Islam presented the research results at the press conference. TIB Executive Director Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, the organization’s Advisor-Executive Management Professor Dr. Sumaiya Khair, research team members Assistant Coordinator Rifat Rahman and K. M. Rafiqul Alam were present at the time.
