According to data of the PDB and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), the grossly flawed Tk 360 crore Tongi plant remained out of operation for 2,231 hours exclusively due to the plant's incompetent Chinese builder Harbin's faults.

Experts say the shutdowns alone deprived the PDB of Tk 42.83 crore in revenue.

Power generation at the plant remained suspended for around 1,000 hours more due to low gas pressure or non-availability of gas.

The plant saw a total of more than 80 rounds of shutdowns in 14 months till June with 45 of those attributed to builder's faults. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia inaugurated commercial operation of the plant on September 3 last year and it tripped within a few hours.

The builder's faults include installation of sub-standard equipment like gas booster compressor (GBC) and gas compressor, air compressor, mist eliminator motor, gas relief valve and different types of filters etc.

Sources said the GBC is a costly device but the ones supplied by Harbin is inappropriate for the plant. This is the biggest reason for its poor performance. Harbin has been repeatedly asked to replace the GBC but it is yet to do so.

Poor implementation of the project by the builder is evident from shutdowns caused by loose control cable connection at the plant's junction box and leakage of hot gas through expansion joint of exhaust plenum etc.

Though Harbin supplied poor machinery in violation of the contract, the PDB has so far taken no effective steps to penalise the Chinese company.

The plant is currently undergoing a two-year guarantee period, meaning Harbin is subject to penalty if found responsible for the plant's faults till September next year. But the company, in connivance with an unscrupulous section of PDB officials, is killing time and running the plant on makeshift arrangements.

Sources said State Minister for Power Anwarul Kabir Talukder has meanwhile asked the PDB to form an investigation committee to find the nexus of officials responsible for making the government accept the Tongi plant along with its glitches.

There is already a PDB probe committee report on irregularities at the plant that have been shelved without any explicit reasons. The committee held Harbin responsible for not supplying GBC as per contract and recommended that action be taken against it for violation of contractual obligations.

"On the basis of this investigation, the PDB board in June last year had asked Harbin to replace faulty and inappropriate machinery. But nothing has been done as yet, and it seems the government is reluctant to punish the corrupt elements directly responsible for the plant's plight," one source pointed out.

Harbin is the only company to have signed a power deal under the four-party alliance government. After it signed the Tongi deal in 2002 using political influence of the 'alternative centre of power' and sidekicks, the company last year received the contract for Fenchuganj 90 MW power plant with 10 per cent down payment and is now in the process of signing the contract for Chandpur 150 MW power project. Harbin was awarded both the contracts bending rules and regulations. The company is also set to get the contract for 240 MW Siddhirganj power project, to be financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), ignoring the opinion of the project's consultant.