ISLAMABAD, Jan 8: The government has stopped the Water and Power Development Authority from placing orders of around Rs1.2 billion to a Chinese company for supply of about 1.5 million electricity meters.

An official told Dawn that the water and power ministry had taken notice of complaints from a group of local meter manufacturers that the deal was finalized in a non-transparent manner.

The ministry has directed the Wapda authorities to submit a report on the issue and not to finalise the deal till further orders. The issue, said sources, has also been brought to the notice of President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

A Wapda official said the proposed deal was transparent and the local manufacturers had been given full opportunity to match the price offered by the Chinese company. It was not possible for the utility to purchase meters from the local manufacturers at higher rates when a lower offer was available, the official said.

The official said the utility could not be forced to purchase the meters at higher rates because it had recorded all the proceedings of the negotiations and bidding process.

The local manufacturers, having failed to meet the bid from the Chinese firm, had contacted federal ministers of commerce and water and power and advisor to the prime minister on finance to block the deal that they believed could close down the country’s meter manufacturing industry.

The official claimed that because of the management’s policies the rates had dropped by over 40 per cent to Rs800 and lower from Rs1,300 per meter five years ago.

According to Wapda the local manufacturers were selling their meters at Rs1,050 per meter while the Chinese company was ready to provide meters with the same specifications at Rs800.

The difference between the offers came to around Rs375 million that could not be ignored, said Wapda sources.

The local manufacturers alleged that the Chinese meters would speed up with the passage of time because of the material used and they did not meet the local requirements and specifications, the sources said.

The Water and Power Development Authority denied the allegations and said a technical team had visited China recently to verify the specifications through factory inspection.

Wapda sources said the Chinese firm had offered a rate of Rs750 per meter for the 1.5 million meters and Rs20 per meter price cut in case the utility increased its order to 1.8 million.