The Exim Bank of Canada has decided to extend a C$75M loan to India’s West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) to modernise its Bandel station. The loan will be provided via the Power Finance Corporation, as part of a C$100M credit.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has cancelled the tender for the 900MW Purulia pumped storage project’s civil works contract. West Bengal said its evaluation of the tenders indicated that the lowest bidder, Tai Sai of Japan, planned to increase the price of the project by Rs2B (US$48M). Cancellation of the civil works contract is also expected to delay the other two main packages of work — these are the electromechanical and hydromechanical works.

Mitsubishi of Japan submitted the lowest bid — US$35M — for the hydromechanical package.

The WBSEB has also cancelled the letter of intent given to the Indo-Canadian Power Consortium, led by SNC Lavalin of Canada , for implementation of the Rammam 1 hydroelectric project. The cancellation was again attributed to price increases, said to be required by ICPC.