The Cabinet on Thursday approved a bill that seeks to regulate government purchases of above Rs 50 lakh through a transparent bidding process. The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the public procurement bill that has a provision to debar bidders found engaged in corrupt practices, sources said. Currently, there is no overarching legislation governing public procurement by the central government and central public sector enterprises. The General Financial Rules, 2005, govern procurements made by the Centre.
