China's Dongfang Electric Corporation is set to be awarded the third major contract for work on the 1,450-MW Ghazi Barotha hydroelectric power scheme, project sources say. Dongfang submitted the lowest bid for the power complex contract at Rs 8,900 million ($255.8 million) in January.

The bid also included a possible discount of Rs 300 million ($8.6 million).

The Water & Power Development Authority has submitted its recommendation to the project's major donors and is awaiting approval, which is expected by early July, the sources say. The bulk of the finance for the scheme is to come from the World Bank, Japan's Overseas Economic Co-operation Fund, the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and Germany's Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau.

The contract is for the power complex civil works and will involve building a 1,450-MW power house with five units and associated infrastructure facilities. The sources say that a number of points concerning the bid will need to be resolved with Dongfang after donor approval has been obtained and prior to making an official award (MEED 2:2:96).