DHAKA: The government struck another deal for setting up a rented power plant of 40-megawatt capacity without tender, in its desperate bid to tackle an unabated electricity crisis in the country. 

The latest rental power unit will be set up at Noapara in Jessore.

The accord was signed in the conference room of the Power Development Board (PDB) between PDB and Khan Jahan Ali Power Ltd, a private organization, on Sunday evening.

According to the agreement, the furnace oil-fired plant will go into operation within nine months. The PDB will purchase power at a high rate of Tk 7.78 per unit from the private power producer.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved a proposal on April 8 for the purchase of 1220 megawatts of electricity through understanding, without going for time-consuming tender process, to meet the demand for electricity up to 2011 under a power-sector roadmap.

BDST: 1705 HRS, JULY 25, 2010