The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) says that the government would have incurred a loss of USD 450 million had the coal tender which recently sparked controversy been awarded to the company Black Sand Commodities.
This was revealed at the first meeting of the new COPE members on Friday (Oct. 07).
Citing a report by the Auditor General, SJB MP Patali Champika Ranawaka said the company was looking to purchase a ton of coal priced at USD 284.84 based on the composite index, when in contrast, the same quantity could have been purchased at USD 179.55, according to the Russian index. “In other words, the cost of every ton is USD 100 for a quantity of 4.5 million tons of coal. If this happened, there would have been a problem amounting to USD 450 million.”
Quoting the report further, MP Ranawaka said the although there was an opportunity to discuss the bidding prices, the Auditor General has observed that no attempt has been made to do so.
