In a bid to tackle rampant corruption in procurement of items, government on Tuesday announced it will bring a bill to deal with the issue even as the Group of Ministers set up to tackle corruption adopted a report which recommends means to make the procedure more transparent.

The comprehensive public procurement law to clearly demarcate powers and responsibilities of various authorities and ensure full transparency to reduce corruption is likely to be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament, Law Minister Salman Khurshid said here after a meeting of the GoM on corruption.

He said the decision comes in the backdrop of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's announcement on Independence Day this year on introduction of a bill on public procurement.

"As the rules under the law would need to be in place soon after the law in enacted by the DoPT, the four committees on procurement of goods, pharma drugs, services and works may directly commence drafting rules and standard templates," the GoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, decided.

In February, the Cabinet Secretary had set up a special committee on procurements headed by former Competition Commission of India (CCI) chairman Vinod Dhall to give recommendations on the issue.

According to the recommendations of the committee, the emphasis is on transparency and putting maximum information in public domain. "This facet is especially relevant in the context of a public procurement legislation and public procurement portal," a statement issued after the meeting said.

The proposed legislation seeks to highlight the importance of appropriate and well-designed procurement policies, thus putting special focus on an aspect of governance which has remained "neglected for long".

The legislation would also revamp the general financial rules and associated rules for procurement of works, goods and services to bring them at par with current international best practices and make them contextual and relevant.

The Committee recommendations seek to incorporate the latest technological trends, especially those emanating from e-governance considerations in procurement practices.

Public procurement includes government contracts for supplies of goods, civil work such as roads, ports and airports, and consultancies among others. The annual government expenditure on public procurement is pegged at Rs 2.5 to Rs 3 lakh crore.