US firm gets more time to complete satellite work

The cabinet committee on purchase yesterday agreed to a three-year extension in the tenure of the American consulting firm that is supervising the launch of Bangladesh's first satellite.

The extension to June 2018 came in a meeting chaired by Finance Minister AMA Muhith. 

Maryland-based Space Partnership International (SPI) will receive an additional Tk 35 crore for working beyond the stipulated time, which is a 49 percent increase on the original cost of Tk 71.99 crore. SPI was appointed in 2012, and its tenure expired in March this year.

The company is responsible for feasibility and market studies for the satellite service, preparation of business plan, exploration of orbital slots and frequency coordination, and architectural design of the satellite system.

It will also supervise the evaluation of bids for the satellite's launch, negotiation with the bidders, the testing activities during and after handover of the spacecraft to launch vehicle provider and testing of the satellite grand station equipment.

SPI could not finish some of its assigned work due to the delay in project approval, according to the Telecom Division's proposal.

The purchase committee also agreed to award a part of the project to set up railway lines from Khulna to Mongla port to Delhi-based Ircon International for Tk 1,149.89 crore. 

The project is being implemented under an Indian line of credit, which is conditional on only Indian companies getting the work.

Mumbai-based Afcons KPTL-JV and Kolkata-based Simplex Infrastructure also bid for the project.

The total cost of the project is Tk 3,802 crore, of which Tk 2,371 crore is under the Indian line of credit.   The project was approved by Ecnec in 2010 with a cost of Tk 1,721 crore and it was scheduled to be complete by 2013.

Later, the timeframe was extended twice and the new deadline is 2018, which also caused the costs to go up. India increased the amount of credit in line with the rise. 

The project is an important part of the transit arrangement between Bangladesh and its neighbours -- India, Bhutan and Nepal.