Tender floated amid growing concern

Tender has been floated for constructing the 1,320 megawatt Rampal plant near the Sundarbans amid concerns from the Unesco and environmentalists over the power plant's possible harmful effects on the forest, a Unesco world heritage site.
Environmentalists have long been protesting against the construction of the massive coal-fired power plant in Bagerhat, as the location of the Bangladesh-India joint venture project is only 14km off the world's largest mangrove forest.
The UNESCO wrote to Bangladesh government in November last year, voicing its worries over the world heritage site.
In response, the government sent a letter to the Unesco last month, saying the project wouldn't harm the Sundarbans as the site is 14 km from the edge of the forest, said an official wishing anonymity.
Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Ltd (BIFPCL), which is implementing the project, floated tender last month for constructing two units of the plant. It set May 18 as the last date for submission of bid papers. 
“We have floated tender and many parties are showing interest. We might award the work by June or July if we get a techno-commercially sound bidder,” BIFPCL Deputy Managing Director UK Bhattacharya told this correspondent recently.  
Upon getting the job, the firm is supposed to finish the work in 41 months, he said. 
Some interested parties already collected tender documents from the BIFPCL Eskaton office in the capital, and the BIFPCL would make arrangements for them to visit the project site, said Bhattacharya.  
According to tender documents, the BIFPCL sought bids from eligible bidders for constructing the plant's two units -- 660MW each -- by arranging bank or debt financing through Export Credit Agency (ECA).
Initially, it was estimated that the project would need an investment of $1.7 billion. Of the amount, 30 percent would be funded by the BIFPCL and the rest by a single or multiple international financiers.
The BIFPCL is yet to get funds for the project. 
Asked whether the company is struggling to manage funds, BIFPCL Managing Director Vijay Shanker Tamrakar said they were not facing any problems over funds. 
“Many bidders are showing their interest and we have asked them to consult with their respective ECA before submitting the bidding documents,” he told this correspondent recently. 
On the concerns of environmentalists, the Unesco and international organisations, Tamrakar claimed the plant would not cause any harm. 
“The environment would rather improve as we are planting around half a million trees in the area,” he said.  
The company lost a promised fund around three months before it floated the tender. It was expecting to receive $55 million from Norway as partial fund for the project. 
But the Norwegian government backed off over environmental concerns following the recommendations of the Norwegian council on ethics. The council had referred to “strong concerns” voiced by the Unesco.
Many environmental organisations at home and abroad have expressed concerns that the plant's waste containing toxic metals such as arsenic and mercury would harm the mangrove forest.  
Aimed at meeting Bangladesh's growing energy demand, the project is already more than a year behind the schedule. It was supposed to be in operation by December 2018.
The plant would require around eight million tonnes of coal a year, which would be imported from Australia or Indonesia, said BIFPCL officials.