India set to beat China to $1.6bn Bangladesh power plant project

Bangladesh power plant: Indian’s state-run  Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) looks set to secure the contract to build a $1.6bn  power plant in Bangladesh, squeezing out  China’s Harbin Electric International Company in the latest commercial tussle between Asia’s two dominant powers.
After years of negotiations, BHEL will sign a contract to build a 1,320-megawatt (MW) thermal power station in Khulna in southern Bangladesh next weekend, officials in New Delhi and Dhaka said this week.
It appears that its Chinese rival, which has built similar plants  in Iran, Turkey and Indonesia, lost the bid on technical grounds, although BHEL is also reported to have put in a lower bid. If confirmed, it would be the  biggest foreign project won by an Indian power company.
Nearly two-fifths of Bangladesh’s 160 million people do not have access to electricity, according to the World Bank.

Source: indiatimes