Dhaka:Bangladeshhas awarded a $189 million power project to India'sBharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and said it may import power fromneighbouring West Bengal to tide over ashortage.

This is the first deal signed by the caretaker governmentafter it took office and began taking much-delayed decisions on key economicprojects.

The government of former prime minister Khaleda Zia(2001-06) had kept on hold many decisions including $3 billion worth ofinvestment proposals by the Tatas that some called 'politically sensitive' asthe group is an Indian enterprise.

BHEL will build a power plant in Siddhirganj, with two unitsof 120 MW each. The firm will install the plant by December 2008.

The Harbin Power Engineering of China also participated inthe tender bid.

"Although it was the lowest bidder, Harbin allegedly manipulated the price and atone stage of the bid evaluation it withdrew from the race, leaving behind BHEL asthe lone bidder. Both companies had been engaged in heavy lobbying to bag thejob," the New Age newspaper reported today.

The government accepted BHEL's offer under heavy pressurefrom the Asian Development Bank after KEMA International, a Netherlands-basedconsultancy firm commissioned by ADB, recommended BHEL, the daily added.

The Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB), anewly created corporate subsidiary of the Bangladesh Power Development Board(BPDB), will implement the project. ADB will provide almost $110 million forthe project.

BHEL executive director Rabindra K. Belapukar and EGCBsecretary Kazi Nazrul Islam signed the deal on behalf of their respectivesides.

Power and energy advisor Tapan Chowdhury and Indian highcommissioner in Dhaka Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, besides ADB representativeStefan Ekelund, were present at the signing ceremony.

According to The Daily Star, the government is also mullingover a proposal to import electricity from West Bengalto cut down the country's perennial power shortage.

The caretaker government has formed an expert committee toreview the proposal in order to overhaul the power sector to reduce loadshedding during the upcoming summer.