Time extended again for submitting bids

The government has extended again the deadline for submission of bids to June 11 for picking an Indian sponsor to supply 250 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Bangladesh.
The deadline was extended, as the invitation of bids before selection of an Indian sponsor for the purpose drew poor response, officials said.
This is the fourth extension of the deadline for submission of bids for buying electricity from an Indian sponsor for a term of long 15 years.
The first deadline was February 12, 2015.
This is, however, the second round of bidding as the initial tenders floated in June last year could not attract any bidder.
State-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) floated the tender aiming to start electricity purchase from June.
The BPDB seeks to select a sponsor having the capacity of exporting 250 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Bangladesh. It asked the interested bidders to submit technical, commercial and tariff proposals to this effect.
The BPDB will ink a power purchase deal with the successful bidder and the tenure of the agreement can be extended further on the basis of mutual understanding.
The eligible Indian company must have the experience of trading in minimum 250MW electricity as per the tender term.
India's potential gas or coal-based power plant owners, suppliers or traders were invited to submit bids for supply of the 250MW electricity to the Bahrampur substation at Murshidabad in India, a senior BPDB official said.
The selected sponsor will be required to supply the power up to the Bahrampur substation at the 400 KV (kilo volt) level.
The electricity will be transmitted to the Bheramara grid substation in Kushtia by the Power Grid Company of India (PGCI) and the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB).
The BPDB official said Bangladesh would purchase the 250MW electricity directly from the Indian sponsor apart from the current import of around 450 MW from that country.
Currently, the country's overall electricity generation is hovering around 7,300 MW against the demand for over 8,500 MW.
The government has a target to augment electricity generation to 20,000 MW by 2021.
Officials said the imported electricity would help ease Bangladesh's power supply shortage. It would also help establish a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) electricity grid.
mazizur.rahman@outlook.com