The Board of Nandipur Power Project has reportedly rejected a proposal of Water and Power Ministry to award O&M contract to M/s General Electric (GE) without bidding, well-informed sources told Business Recorder. Ministry of Water and Power wanted to give O&M contract to GE to operate the corruption tainted 425-525 MW project without bidding but the Board of Directors in its meeting said it is not possible to award the contract to any company without International Competitive Bidding (ICB), the sources added.
The board also decided that the plant will be operated by the Chinese EPC contractor M/s Dongfang for next six months after which O&M contract will be awarded on ICB basis. "We have notified decision and minutes of the meeting," said one of the board members on condition of anonymity. When contacted, Secretary Water and Power Younus Dagha confirmed that the board has decided that the plant will be operated by the EPC contractor Dongfang for sometime after which the contract will be awarded on ICB basis. Genco's engineers who were trained in China and USA will also be part of the team which will operate the plant. "Ministry of Water and Power endorses the decision of Nandipur Power Project's board," he added.
One board member told this scribe that Nepra is the real 'culprit' which allowed hiring of O&M contractors to run the project despite the fact operation of the plant is the responsibility of EPC contractors. According to sources, Managing Director, Nandipur Power Project wanted to award the O&M contract to a Malaysian company M/s Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) but the Board urged ICB because the rate of the Malaysian firm was 50 percent higher than the allowed rate of O&M by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra). "If the project had been awarded to TNB Malaysia, there would have been a loss of Rs 500 million to the exchequer.
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