News
Govt. in 12-day rush to buy 1,775 double cabs
View(s):- Short notice for bidders; closing date Nov. 4
By Namini Wijedasa
The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on Thursday floated a multibillion rupee tender for the purchase of 1,775 diesel-powered double cabs, allowing just 12 days for interested parties to submit their bids.
Sealed bids are invited for the procurement of the brand-new four-wheel-drive automatic transmission diesel double cabs through the national competitive bidding procedure. While interested bidders may purchase bidding documents between October 23 (the date the tender was published) and November 3, 2025, the bid closing time and date is provided as 2pm on November 4, 2025.
The current selling price of an automatic transmission double cab is between Rs. 23 million and Rs. 24.7 million, inquiries by the Sunday Times revealed. At the lower limit, this places the value of the Finance Ministry’s tender at Rs. 40.8bn. (The cost, insurance and freight value—which is pre-tax—was not obtainable). The short deadline means there will be no pre-bid meeting.
The bidder shall have maintained a minimum average annual turnover of not less than Rs. 10 billion during the period 2017-19, the period that preceded the vehicle importation ban. It shall also have maintained a minimum of ten service and repair centres under its ownership countrywide, with five of them situated outside the Western Province. Franchises or associates are not accepted.
In September, the Finance Ministry started collecting information from ministry secretaries, chief secretaries of provincial councils and heads of department to order a fleet of new double cabs to facilitate the “swift and efficient” implementation of the government’s development programmes.
A circular from Treasury Secretary Harshana Suriyapperuma said it was necessary to promptly address and resolve issues in sectors such as agriculture, irrigation, land, wildlife, forest conservation and regional administration.
“The lack of a sufficient number of vehicles and machinery, along with the high maintenance costs for many old ones, has been a hindrance to continuous development work,” it states.
“Cabinet approval has been granted for the urgent purchase of a number of essential vehicles and machinery for state institutions, and the government has decided to first purchase a certain number of double cabs from the total vehicle requirement for the year 2025,” it holds.
It was not immediately clear why the tender was being closed at short notice.
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!