What's new

Indian power company Lanco relieved of a contract

eastwatch

SENIOR MEMBER
Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Messages
7,503
Reaction score
1
Country
Bangladesh
Location
Japan
New unsolicited deal tabled for Sirajganj power project

New unsolicited deal tabled for Sirajganj power project
Sharier Khan
Two years back, Indian company Lanco had won a tender to build a 370 megawatt dual-fuel power plant in Sirajganj.

The government had issued a letter of intent to the company so that Lanco deposits $13 million as performance security deposit (PSD) with a deadline and signs the contract.

As the single bidder, Lanco had offered a power tariff of 3.99 cents per kilowatt-hour.

However, the company, instead of submitting the PSD, extended the deadline for four times, saying the bank formalities were almost completed.

Meanwhile, Lanco initialled various contract documents, giving the impression that it was all set to implement the project.

But in reality, Lanco had gone bankrupt and could never come up with the PSD money. The company that was also awarded a contract to build a 220 megawatt gas-based power plant in Bhola in 2012, declined to carry out the project last year.

Realising that the company was wasting the government's time and disrupting its plans in the power sector, the Power Cell under the power ministry which is implementing the scheme, finally terminated its deal with Lanco on September 1.

Advertisement


Now, instead of going for an open re-tender, the Power Cell has recently tabled an unsolicited proposal of a Singapore-based company, Sembcorp Industries, for the Sirajganj project. It is seeking the ministry's nod to engage the company in an unsolicited negotiation.

In June, Sembcorp, in a letter to the state minister for power, expressed its interest to develop the Sirajganj dual-fuel combined cycle power plant as per the power tariff, terms and conditions fixed with Lanco. If Lanco fails to deposit its PSD within the deadline, Sembcorp would like to fill in, it said.

It added that Asian Development Bank, Singapore's financier Clifford Capital and some other financiers expressed interest in funding the project, if Sembcorp is awarded the job.

“In this situation, we would be asking the Singaporean company to submit a complete proposal to weigh its merit,” an official said, asking not to be named.
 
. .
Back
Top Bottom