They estimate that the Power Board will pay approximately $1.76 billion extra for awarding the contracts under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provisions) Act 2010 that indemnifies officials concerned against prosecution for making such decisions. The Power Board is expected to initial the two contracts with Adani and Reliance respectively soon.
In a move to award the contracts to the companies without tenders, the Power Board signed two memorandums with the companies on June 6, 2015, the day Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit, said officials. No Indian firm has so far won a competitive bidding for supplying electricity in Bangladesh. Energy Adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, also an Electrical Engineer, said that the contracts had no technical basis in the sense that the prices of electricity were settled bypassing tenders.
Such a decision to award contracts without competitive bidding is in itself a violation of the technical basis for awarding contracts by bypassing tenders. As such, it is an anti-competitive and anti-people action. The extra USD 1.76 billion means that an extra 14000 crore takas has to be paid over the lifetime of the contract to the firms, meaning that the consumers will have to pay this extra amount as the government will not be paying this.
The only good things is that the land on which the Adani plant will be built in will not be in Bangladesh, as our land is much more scarce. Also the pollution that comes from the plant will not be harming Bangladesh. While the costs are lower than the furnace oil plants and fuel oil plants there was no reason to not go for a competitive bidding process to give the awards.
It would seem to many that the awards were given hastily and without a consideration for the best interests of the country’s consumers in mind. Allegations of corruption may shadow the deal, as no genuine reason can be shown for doing this. Making our neighbouring country’s big firms happy at the expense of our domestic consumers should not be the motive for making any deal.
