In a letter to the eight pre-qualified bidders of the third tender, the Cell said the government has decided to appoint a consultant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to supervise the tender for the project. Under the circumstances, the ongoing tender process has been cancelled, the letter added.

The fresh pre-qualification process will be initiated soon, the letter said, regretting inconveniences caused to the bidders--AES (USA), YTL (Malaysia), GMR (India), Globeleq-Summit Consortium (UK-Bangladesh joint venture), Manning Industries (USA), Marubeni Corporation (Japan), Orion-Delta (local), Esser Power-PHP Consortium (India).

Sources said the cancellation will delay the project by at least another six months, even if it is given highest emphasis.

The move has also disappointed the bidders each of which had purchased tender documents worth $20,000, they said.

A source noted that such a major decision should have been taken in the presence of the energy adviser who is now in abroad on vacation.

The Power Cell selected these eight bidders for the third tender of the Sirajganj power project late last year. Five of the eight bidders--GMR, AES, YTL, Globeleq-Summit and Manning--purchased tender documents and have been seeking various clarifications from the Cell since December last year.

The authorities, however, failed to reciprocate with their queries due to a lack of qualified technical staff.

Earlier on April 12, the power ministry through the Economic Relations Division conveyed to the ADB its decision to accept its consultant to supervise the Meghnaghat-3 and Sirajganj private power schemes.

In a letter, the ministry said if the ADB supervises the project, nobody would raise questions about its transparency and it would be more acceptable internationally. Bidders would feel comfortable and encouraged and such a process would also encourage lower price offers.

The tendering process for the Sirajganj power project has seen a series of bad decisions in the past. The first tender failed to attract enough bidders. The second tender in 2003-04 received an offer from Summit Power but the then prime minister cancelled it without any explicit reason. Since then the technically crippled Power Cell could not even bring itself to launch the third tender until late 2006.