13 Entrepreneurs interested in 3rd round of auction for NGV bus procurement deal

[webfact]

13 Entrepreneurs interested in 3rd round of auction for NGV bus procurement deal

BANGKOK, 31 Mar 2015, (NNT) - 13 entrepreneurs participated in the 3rd round of auction for the 489 Natural Gas for Vehicle (NGV) bus procurement deal on March 26th.

According to Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) Acting Director Pranee SukrasornMs, out of the 13 contenders, only 2 were from the previous round. She is confident that this would be the last round and the name of the winner will be announced on April 20th. The deal winner will be responsible for the procurement of the buses and start delivering them between May to July this year. The medium price for each vehicle is set at 3.65 million baht, netting an entire deal for 1.78 billion baht.

The acting BMTA director added that her agency plans to decommission 100 buses after receiving all of the new NGV vehicles. As for another plan involving periodic maintenance of the existing 2,600 buses, the Ministry of Finance would guarantee for the loan the BMTA may make regarding the maintenance.

Ms. Pranee said the procurement for the rest of the BMTA’s fleet would have to come after it can determine the new vehicle’s longevity. She added her agency is considering procuring electric buses, given the rising prices of the natural gas for vehicle. However, the choice may not be viable due to the steep price tag of up to ten million baht apiece.


-- NNT 2015-03-31

[clockman]

And will these buses, be built to international standards? Like the too high too narrow death traps on the road now!

[smutcakes]

I really do not understand how this procurement is working, it seems to be flip flopping all over the place.

First there was a handful of bidders both Thai and Foregin, then a couple dropped out.

Then there were more strange stipulations.

Now we are in the 3rd stage of bidding and suddenly another 11 contenders seem to have appeared from nowhere.

I was under the impression, that normally bids would be received, those bids assessed, and perhaps a couple move on to more detail analysis.

It seems here that anyone can just come piling in whenever they feel like it.

[rubl]

I really do not understand how this procurement is working, it seems to be flip flopping all over the place.

First there was a handful of bidders both Thai and Foregin, then a couple dropped out.

Then there were more strange stipulations.

Now we are in the 3rd stage of bidding and suddenly another 11 contenders seem to have appeared from nowhere.

I was under the impression, that normally bids would be received, those bids assessed, and perhaps a couple move on to more detail analysis.

It seems here that anyone can just come piling in whenever they feel like it.

I think (and only think) that the total number of 3100++ new buses has been divided into separate lots of 400 - 500 each, maybe also with lots having different type of buses. Recently we had an auction with only one bidder surviving.

[Srikcir]

I really do not understand how this procurement is working, it seems to be flip flopping all over the place.

First there was a handful of bidders both Thai and Foregin, then a couple dropped out.

Then there were more strange stipulations.

Now we are in the 3rd stage of bidding and suddenly another 11 contenders seem to have appeared from nowhere.

I was under the impression, that normally bids would be received, those bids assessed, and perhaps a couple move on to more detail analysis.

It seems here that anyone can just come piling in whenever they feel like it.

Yes, better transparency in government procurement appears to be a fantasy.

- 1st round were 23 interested bidders for 498 NGV buses out of a total 3,183 buses.

- Only 2 make bids

- Pranee says she will continue procurement with the 2 bidders as procurement requires ONLY 1 bidder

- Pranee says she will begin negotiaions with the two

- 3rd round (2nd round being negotiations with 2 bidders?) Pranee says there are now 11 more bidders

- Deal Winner chosen and will get bt3.65 million for each bus.

Only Swiss cheese has more holes than this procurement process!

[Srikcir]

Disgraceful!

Once again when the Junta-led government has the opportunity to diversify away from fossil-fueled transportation and towards clean electric transportation, it seems to revert to the past.

2014-09-12

"PEA's [Provincial Electricity Authority] technological research and development fund and Suranaree University of Technology jointly produced the electric bus with 43 seats....The PEA will test the bus during the next six months. If results are satisfactory, it will deploy the vehicle to serve its staff next year....Later the PEA will promote the commercial use of such buses that can halve energy costs compared with oil-powered buses."

2015-03-02

"The Minister of Transport [ACM Prajin Juntong] has appointed related agencies to study the possibilities of replacing the current diesel and NGV buses with electric buses, in wake of the NGV price hike....[he] addressed the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA)’s NGV bus procuring project of the 2,694 pending purchases of buses, that the BMTA should consider feedback from all related sectors on whether these new buses should operate on NGV gas."

But BMTA is forging ahead with procurement of NGV buses.

What happened to a sustainable energy program?

Is anyone in the government in control of its energy policy?

[rubl]

I really do not understand how this procurement is working, it seems to be flip flopping all over the place.

First there was a handful of bidders both Thai and Foregin, then a couple dropped out.

Then there were more strange stipulations.

Now we are in the 3rd stage of bidding and suddenly another 11 contenders seem to have appeared from nowhere.

I was under the impression, that normally bids would be received, those bids assessed, and perhaps a couple move on to more detail analysis.

It seems here that anyone can just come piling in whenever they feel like it.

Yes, better transparency in government procurement appears to be a fantasy.

- 1st round were 23 interested bidders for 498 NGV buses out of a total 3,183 buses.

- Only 2 make bids

- Pranee says she will continue procurement with the 2 bidders as procurement requires ONLY 1 bidder

- Pranee says she will begin negotiaions with the two

- 3rd round (2nd round being negotiations with 2 bidders?) Pranee says there are now 11 more bidders

- Deal Winner chosen and will get bt3.65 million for each bus.

Only Swiss cheese has more holes than this procurement process!

Only Swiss cheese has more holes than your description of what you think (or want to suggest) about the procurement process.

Now for a moment imagine that the procurement of the 3183 buses is split over several lots of 400 - 500 buses each.

[rubl]

Disgraceful!

Once again when the Junta-led government has the opportunity to diversify away from fossil-fueled transportation and towards clean electric transportation, it seems to revert to the past.

2014-09-12

"PEA's [Provincial Electricity Authority] technological research and development fund and Suranaree University of Technology jointly produced the electric bus with 43 seats....The PEA will test the bus during the next six months. If results are satisfactory, it will deploy the vehicle to serve its staff next year....Later the PEA will promote the commercial use of such buses that can halve energy costs compared with oil-powered buses."

2015-03-02

"The Minister of Transport [ACM Prajin Juntong] has appointed related agencies to study the possibilities of replacing the current diesel and NGV buses with electric buses, in wake of the NGV price hike....[he] addressed the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA)’s NGV bus procuring project of the 2,694 pending purchases of buses, that the BMTA should consider feedback from all related sectors on whether these new buses should operate on NGV gas."

But BMTA is forging ahead with procurement of NGV buses.

What happened to a sustainable energy program?

Is anyone in the government in control of its energy policy?

Well, the Transport Ministry is into trains.

As for government policies

2008-02-25 http://www.setatwork.eu/events/thailand/25%20Paper/Opening%20session%201.3_DEDE.pdf

2010-04-23 http://www.thailawforum.com/green-policies-take-off.html

2012-05-31 http://www.palangthai.org/docs/ThailandFiTtongsopit&greacen.pdf

Mind you the EPPO site doesn't seem to have been updated since December, 2012

(EPPO = Energy Policy and Planning Office, Ministry of Energy)

http://www.eppo.go.th/index-E.html