CPC to review Ghorashal peaking power plant project

The Cabinet Purchase Committee (CPC) will again consider the Power Division's proposal for rejecting the tender of a Chinese company for the Ghorashal 200-300 MW peaking power plant project, reports UNB. The cabinet body, in its meeting on March 3 with the finance minister in the chair, approved awarding of the Ghorashal project contract to the Consortium of China National Technical Import and Export Corporation and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation. However, CPC decided to reconsider the matter in another meeting last week. The latest decision came as a surprise, because the Power Division's plea to reject the Chinese consortium as non-responsive bidder was dismissed by the cabinet body in its March 3 meeting, for unknown reasons. At that meeting, CPC accepted the proposal of the Power Development Board (PDB), a subordinate body of Power Division. The PDB preferred to award the tender to the Chinese consortium. The Power Division opposed the PDB's proposal, as they found gross irregularities in the tender evaluation process. A cabinet minister's business firm is believed to be an agent of the Chinese consortium. Official sources said as the minutes of the cabinet body's March 3 meeting were being prepared, the finance minister, also the convenor of CPC, asked the Cabinet Division not to include the Ghorashal project as approved. Rather, he asked the officials to place the proposal again to the cabinet body's next meeting for further discussion.