Energy Bangla

Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Ltd (BIFPCL) has extended the deadline for submitting bid documents by another two months as per demand of contractors, a top official said.
The BIFPCL, a joint venture of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and National Thermal Power Company (NTPC) of India, on Wednesday took the decision at its board meeting. “We have extended the schedule for submitting bid documents as per request of five participants (EPC contracts),” BIFPCL Managing Director U.K. Bhattacharya told daily sun.
They are yet to prepare their documents for submission, he said. He said a total of six aspirants collected the bid documents to implement the Rampal Power Project. Of them, two each have come from India and South Korea while Japan and China also procured bid documents to implement the power project. The previous deadline of bid submission has expired on June 16, 2015. During the meeting, a board member of Bangladesh side opposed the extension of the schedule which could delay implementation of the power project. But later they agreed. Insiders of the project said only two Indian firms have shown more interest to participate in the bid.  The BIFPCL was a schedule to hold a roadshow in South Korea and Japan but later it was suspended due to unwillingness of Korean funding agencies.
International funding agencies are unwilling to fund the project due to controversy for implementing it near Sundarbans heritage.  Recently, Gurdian reports, three French banks said they will not invest in Rampal power plant in Bangladesh. As the plant struggles for funding, a report says it is non-compliant with minimum environmental and social standards.
BIFPC Managing Director UK Bhattacharya refuted to seek fund from three French banks and said it is a ‘baseless report’. On 5 June, 2015, other organisations such as National Committee for Saving the Sundarbans, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolan, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, and Poribesh Bachao Andolan renewed their call to scrap the plant.
In India, NTPC operates 25 thermal plants and a further nine run under joint venture collaborations. Six of these plants scored poorly on environmental parameters, rating a mere 16 to 28 percent compared to the best possible rating of 80 percent.