Trading Corporation of Pakistan's (TCP) third international tender for the import of Desi Chickpeas once again failed to attract bidders as none of the suppliers participated in the bidding process. The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet with a view to avoiding shortage of gram pulse and keeping prices stable in the domestic market had in October approved the summary of Ministry of National Food Security and Research, asking the TCP to import 50,000 tons of Desi Chickpeas for domestic consumption in lots of 5,000 tons each.
After scrapping first two tenders, last month, the state-run grain trader issued third tender inviting bids from foreign suppliers through their local agents registered with Income Tax & Sales Tax departments for the supply of 5,000 metric tons of Desi Chickpeas from world-wide sources through containerised bulk shipment. The tender was opened on Monday (December 21, 2015) at the TCP's head office, however not a single international supplier submitted bid for supplying 5,000 metric tons of Desi Chickpeas. Soruces said that this will be third international tender for the import of Desi Chickpeas, which will be scrapped by the state-run grain traders due to poor response from the international suppliers.
As TCP was directed to import the commodity in lots of 5,000 tons, earlier in October 2015, it issued two international tenders for import of 10,000 metric tons of Desi Chickpeas from world-wide sources. The first tender that was opened on November 5, 2015 fetched two bids. One bid was for supply of the commodity by M/s Agro Corp, which offered to supply some 5,000 metric tons of Desi Chickpeas at $849.65 per ton, while second participant namely M/s Meshe International regretted to submit bid in the first Desi Chickpeas tender.
The second tender for the import of another 5,000 tons of Desi Chickpeas was conducted on November 16, 2015, but it was also scrapped on lower participation because as per Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, international tender required at least three bids to make it mature. It may be pointed out that, at present, there is huge demand for Desi Chickpeas in the world market due to its short crop, while its major supplier is Australia.