Govt faces Tk 100cr loss due to irregularity

 
An allegation of irregularity in the sale auction of two old units with 40MW of Ashuganj Power Station Company Limited (APSCL) has been raised for which the government has incurred about Tk 100 crore loss.

According to the sources, an influential syndicate controlled the sale auction of the two old units of Ashuganj power plant.

It has been alleged that 10 to 15 contracting firms couldn't participate in the auction process due to the influence of the syndicate as they weren't allowed to drop the tenders. Some contractors have been assaulted while they were going to drop tenders.

Authorities concerned alleged that the proposed price of the two units was set at an abnormally lower price than the market price in a dishonesty manner. Although contractors did not say anything openly, they demanded investigation of the auction process.

 
Sources said, a total of 100 tenders were sold but only 6 tenders were submitted.

The 6 bidders are M/s Safiullah Traders (Tk 37.4 crore), Neera Steel Corporation (Tk 38.62 crore), M/s Nabil Enterprises (Tk 61.87 crore), Chandrapuri Enterprises (Tk 32.2 crore), Triratna Trading Enterprises & M/s Mayabi Enterprises (no value given).Although Nabila Enterprise was the highest bidder, but the work was given to a lower bidder M/s Safiullah Traders which put entire auction process in question. 

The contractors alleged that the syndicate members forcibly divided the auction by barring them from participating in the auction.
"If the auction process is not cancelled, the company will suffer a financial loss of about Tk 100 crore", they claimed.

Contacted over mobile phone, Engineer AMM Sajjadur Rahman, Managing Director of APSCL, said, "The auction process has been completed in a transparent manner."

"Nobody was given work order. If any irregularity is taken place, it will be looked into", he added. 

>>Golam Sarwar in Ashuganj