Bashundhara Group wins bid to supply 8m tonnes of coal to Rampal power plant

Dhaka, Feb 7: Bashundhara Group has won the bid to supply 8 million tonnes of coal to the Rampal coal-fired power plant, reports UNB.

According to official sources, three companies submitted bids to supply the coal.

“Bashundhara came out as the lowest bidder offering $232.33 per MT of coal under the index of ICI-2 to reach the product up to the jetty of the power plant”, a top official of the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt.) Ltd., (BIFPCL), told UNB.

The BIFPCL invited the tender a few months back and three companies—local Bashundhara, Akij and Dubai-based Commodity First--submitted their respective bids to win the coal supply contract.

The bids were opened on Monday and Bashundhara became the first lowest offering the coal price at $232.33 per MT while Commodity First became the second lowest with its offer to supply coal at $234 per MT while Akij Group offered the coal price at $282 per MT.

Earlier, Bashundhara Group had won the first bid as well to supply a limited 300,000 MT of coal for the 1320 MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Plant (2X660 MW) at Rampal of Southern Bagerhat district.

At that time, its joint venture consisted of two subsidiaries—Bashundhara Food and Beverage Industries Ltd. (BFBIL) and Bashundhara Multi Trading Limited (BMTL)—participated in the international tender of the BIFPCL and won the tender.

The Maitree super thermal power project, known as Rampal power plant, was constructed by the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL), a 50:50 joint venture between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)., started test operation on December 23 last year.

The BPDB represents the Bangladesh government in the joint venture while NTPC represents the Indian central government.

Dhaka and Delhi made a decision to build the plant under joint venture in 2010 and it took about 13 years to set up the plant.

The BPDB will purchase the entire output of the plant under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). But BPDB is yet to confirm its commercial operation date (COD).

The COD will start once the BPDB is satisfied with its non-stop performance as per the agreement.

When contacted BIFPCL’s chief procurement officer (CPO) Ziaur Rahman informed that the 8 million MT of coal will meet the 3 years requirement of the power plant with two units in operation.

He said the coal will be unloaded either in Chattogram port or in Mongla Port depending on the available facilities and then it will be transported to the plant’s jetty through small ships each having 3000 MT to 5000 MT capacity.

The official informed that the coal will be imported from Indonesia.

According to Bashundhara Group, the local conglomerate, Bashundhara Multi Trading started its journey in 2018 to supply high-quality coal and stones for public-private projects.

The company has become a leading venture in the sector through establishing a strong supply chain network with its services and transportation system, said the Bashundhara website.