India finds no takers to build Afghan parliament

NEW DELHI—Security fears have stopped even a single company from bidding to build a new parliament for Afghanistan after the Indian government floated tenders, an official said Friday.
New Delhi’s Central Public Works Department had invited tenders last year for the multi-million-dollar project in Kabul, but did not receive any response by the February deadline which has now been extended.
“The agencies (companies) have not responded so far. But the tender process is still on and we have extended the deadline till June,” an engineering official involved in the project said on condition of anonymity.
The official told about 10 construction firms had shown interest, but then raised security issues after several Indian engineers were killed in Afghanistan.
An Indian worker was reported missing from the country last month, while two engineers were killed in the southwestern province of Nimroz on April 12 in a double suicide attack claimed by Taliban militants. Another Indian engineer was killed in a suicide attack in January. “There were some apprehensions about security and insurance issues. We have called them and tried to assure them,” the Indian official said.
The Press Trust of India said the parliament project had a budget of about 54 million dollars. New Delhi has taken a major role in reconstruction and infrastructure development in Afghanistan and is a staunch supporter of President Hamid Karzai’s administration. It has given 750 million dollars’ worth of assistance to Afghanistan since 2001.

—Agencies