Modi Hydropower Company Contract Irregularity Alleged

Kathmandu. A complaint has been filed alleging irregularities in the contract process of Modi Hydropower Company, a subsidiary of the Electricity Authority. The complaint states that the experience certificate submitted by the company that won the contract for the Upper Modi A and Upper Modi Hydro projects operated by the company is fake.

Modi Hydropower had approved tenders for two packages last month. A demand has been made to the company's managing director to investigate the claim that the HNAC-KEIM JV, which received the contract, used fake documents to meet the conditions mentioned in the tender. A copy of the request has also been sent to the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police, the Public Procurement Monitoring Office, the Prime Minister's Office, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, and the Nepal Electricity Authority.

According to the claim in the complaint, to participate in the tender process for the first package opened by Modi Hydropower Company, it was stipulated that there should be at least 16 MW capacity Pelton turbine design, production, supply, installation, testing, and operation experience in the last 10 years.

Similarly, it was stipulated that a project of at least 2.3 million US dollars should have been successfully completed in the last 10 years. It was also mentioned in the document that such work should be related to electrochemical work.

For the second contract, it was stipulated that there should be at least 7 MW capacity Francis turbine design, production, supply, installation, testing, and operation experience in the last 10 years, and proof of smooth operation should also be submitted.

Similarly, in the case of the JV, it was stipulated that the main contractor, management contractor, or subcontractor should have successfully completed a project of at least 2.3 million US dollars in the last 10 years. It was also mentioned in the document that such work should be related to electrochemical work.

However, it is claimed in the complaint that HNAC-KEIM JV did not meet this qualification and resorted to fake documents for this.

It is claimed that the tender required the bidder to be a designer and manufacturer, but Kunming only made a sales tender and presented documents of a company that had no experience in installation and testing and had merged and then demerged again.

Kunming existed as a company until 2010. However, it was merged with Harbin Electrical Corporation. In 2017, the two companies demerged again. After that, the company named Kunming was restarted. However, the complainant claims that the newly established company presented the experience certificate of the old company. A demand has also been made for an independent examination of all these matters.