The government has sought the Indian high commission’s intervention regarding repeated delays in supply of some quality control equipment to Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) by an Indian company. Sources at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) said Indian firm Analytical Technologies Limited signed a commercial contract with BSTI on November 28, 2013 and the letter of credit (L/C) for this contract was made effective on May 11, 2014. The BSTI signed the agreement with the Indian company under a $2.47 million (around Tk 20 crore) project, titled ‘Modernisation and Strengthening of BSTI’ being implemented under the Indian $1 billion first line of credit (LoC).
Under the contract, the Indian firm was supposed to deliver various testing equipment and accessories to BSTI by November 10, 2014. But the Indian supplier had extended the contract period six times and the L/C period nine times after the signing of the agreement without making a single delivery, said the ERD sources.
The ERD is worried over the delivery of necessary equipment to be completed by Indian exporter. Due to repetitive delays, the ERD wrote to the Indian high commission in Dhaka over the matter on June 8 this year seeking its intervention.
The ERD, it its letter, said the Indian company was delaying the project’s implementation by deferring the delivery of equipment and seeking repeated extension of the contract period. “It also denotes a negative impact on the government’s budgetary system,” it added.
Under the last extension, the company was committed to hand over 71 types of equipment and 69 types of glassware to BSTI by April 30, 2016. But Analytical Technologies failed to comply with the latest extension. Instead, the company again requested BSTI for another six-month extension on March 31.
The BSTI took the initiative to procure the equipment from India as the country’s export-oriented manufacturers were facing undue obstacles related to the standards and accreditation in the Indian market, a BSTI official said.
The government had undertaken the initiative to modernise the BSTI under the first Indian LoC of $1 billion to establish the institute as a strong and effective quality control organisation and to ensure the quality of indigenous products such as food, gold, cement and bricks in accordance with international standards. On August 7 in 2010, Bangladesh and India signed the credit deal in Dhaka in the presence of the then Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith. A total of 14 development projects are being implemented through the $1 billion loan. Of these, eight projects have been implemented till date.