Ashuganj old power plant units auction: AL leaders earn Tk 100cr

 
Awami League leaders have benefitted from auction of the old units of the Ashuganj Power Station Company Limited (APSCL).  
According to the sources, the local Awami League leaders have earned Tk 100 crore from the auction of old power plant for about Tk 37 crore, which has become a talk of the town in the upazila.

However, the government has incurred huge losses due to the acquisition of syndicated auctions.  There was also a call for an auction of Tk 61 crore.  In addition to this complaint, questions have also arisen regarding the estimation of the auction price of the two old units by the company at about Tk 17.50 crore.

It has been learnt that the lifespan of two old 64 MW units-1 and 2 of the APSCL ended in 2005.  As a result Unit-1 expired in 2014 and Unit-2 in 2018.  The authority decided to install a new higher capacity unit in place of the two units to meet the growing electricity demand of the country. 

Accordingly, the decision to sell and dispose of the units in two auctions was taken.  A consultant firm was then hired to estimate the value of the assets.  A company named M/s Khan Wahab Shafiq Rahman & Company (Chartered Account) valued this property at about Tk 17.50 crore.

An auction tender notice was issued on December 1 last year for the sale of abandoned and ancillary scrubs of two old 64 MW units 1 and 2 of Ashuganj Power Station Company Limited (APSCL).

Although a total of 6 tenders were submitted, M/s Safiullah, a contracting company owned by upazila Awami League president Shafiullah Mia, submitted the tender.

District Chhatra League President Rabiul Hossain Rubel said that he bought the schedule.  But he was not allowed to drop the tender.
Apart from this, many others failed to participate in the auction though about 100 auction tenders were sold.

The investigation revealed that among the 6 tenders submitted, M/S Safiullah Traders of Ashuganj Tk 37,40,00,000, Mira Steel Corporation of Dhaka Tk 38,24,62,500, M/s Nabil Enterprise of Bhairab Tk 61,87,50,000, Chandrapuri Enterprise of Dhaka Tk 32,20,00,000  and Triratna Trading Enterprise bid Tk 36,27,00,000.  Another firm, M/s Mayabi International, participated but did not quote any price and did not issue a pay order. Other fimrs were declared unfit for not being able to pay the security amount as per the conditions along with the excess tender price.  M/s Nabil Enterprises of Bhairab also filed a case in court in this connection.

Contacted, APSCL Company Manager (Procurement) Md  Rafiquddaula refused to make any comment over the matter.  He asked to speak to the managing director of the company.

APSCL managing director AMM Sajjadur Rahman, said, "Five parties participated in the auction, which is enough.""We have also submitted tenders in Dhaka as questions may arise.  Everything is transparent. It is not possible to do more than the valuation we have estimated", he said.

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