Genting Berhad of Malaysia, one of the three companies short-listed for the first re-tendering of Sirajganj project, said the government decision to proceed with the unsolicited Meghnaghat-3 process confirms the absence of level playing field for investors in Bangladesh.

Sources close to Genting said that in a message to the Power Cell the company asked why should it spend thousands of dollars in preparing a proposal and have millions of dollars of bid bonds stuck up when it cannot expect a transparent process?

Two other companies -- Bangladeshi Summit along with German Siemens, and Bagladeshi PHP group along with Indian Essar -- are participating in the bid. Genting, Summit and PHP were selected through request for proposals (RFP) five months ago.

The Power Cell maintains total silence on the issue as powerful officials of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has intimidated it by initiating the firing of the director general of the cell and removing its technical director, sources pointed out.

The PMO officials through the power ministry managed these actions as the two officials had raised some questions about the faulty Meghnaghat-3 unsolicited negotiations.

Genting also cited its shock at the actions against the two officials for their opposition to the Meghnaghat-3 proposal given by US-Irish joint venture Cadogan-Manning, with the backing of some businessmen closely linked to the ruling BNP, and some officials of the PMO.

Genting sources said the Power Cell tried to calm the Malaysian company saying that for the Meghnaght-3 project, there will be Swiss Challenge asking others to meet the offer of Cadogan-Manning. Genting said such a ploy was only window dressing and a backdoor approach to justify violation of the rules of the game.

Genting further noted that unlike the terms and conditions applied for all other projects, including Meghnaghat-2 and 3, the Sirajganj bid terms have been designed in such a way that the lowest power tariff offer will be much higher than expected.

"Since the Meghnaght-1 project, the bid rules allowed the contractor not to pay any tariff for gas (the raw material for power generation) when gas is not used during the initial operating period (IOP). But the bid rules dictate that the contractors pay for gas even when it is not used during the IOP," the source added.

"As a result, the lowest power tariff in the Sirajganj bid will be around 4 cents per kilowatt hour. In contrast, for the unsolicited deal of Meghnaghat-3 and the disqualified bidder of Meghnaghat 2, which get the benefit of 'no use no pay' for gas, it will be 2.78 cents.

Even if the Sirajganj bid is conducted fairly, the prices of Meghnaghat-2 and 3 will look attractive and desirable. That makes the Sirajganj bid look like a farce where the bidders are just being used to justify some faulty and corrupt bids, the source mentioned.

Genting had been participating in various bids, including Meghnaghat 1, since 1998.

Sources said to avoid fresh conflicts, the Power Cell did not even inform the power ministry about Genting's withdrawal. Officials declined to make any comments to The Daily Star.

The Meghnaghat-2 bid that is being processed is set to go to the UAE-based company Belhasa along with Bangladeshi Orion Power Company. They do not have any experience to match this bid. Orion's proximity to a 'bhaban' considered an alternative centre of power, which already ensured its bagging the massive Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover project, remains the only qualifying factor.

Last year, the PMO cancelled the original bid for the Sirajganj project after it reached the final stage. Upon winning the bid, Bangladeshi Summit Power got the cabinet purchase committee's nod and even closed its financial arrangements with support from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, but the PMO cancelled it. No reasons for the cancellation could be known.