SCN-CHO, a joint venture, is the sole remaining bidder to supply 489 natural gas-powered buses for Bangkok after 10 firms pulled out of the race for the 4.02-billion-baht city bus project.
The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) board will be asked to give final approval on Dec 20. This will follow price negotiations between the alliance of the BMTA, energy company Scan Inter Plc (SCN) and public transport supplier Cho Thavee (CHO), BMTA board chairman Nattachat Jarujinda said.
A contract should be inked this month, he said.
Mr Nattachat was confident the much-delayed procurement project to replace part of the BMTA's ageing fleet would materialise before the new school semester in June, as demanded by newly appointed Deputy Transport Minister Pailin Chuchottaworn.
The plan to acquire a new fleet of NGV buses was initiated 11 years ago.
The BMTA in September last year awarded the contract to Bestlin Group but it was revoked this April after the company missed the delivery deadline.
A problem arose when the Customs Department suspected the buses were assembled in China, not Malaysia as claimed by Super Zara Co, which handled the imports. It believed this was done for tax-exemption purposes by exploiting an Asean free-trade agreement.
The BMTA failed to find a new supplier for months before it decided to relax the conditions of purchase and allow bidders to deliver the buses within 180 days, Mr Nattachat said.
The state-run bus agency has extended the delivery period from 120 days and promised to pay the supplier as soon as each batch is delivered.
Cho Thavee executive Krin Chayawisut said the price SCN-CHO offered was higher than the median value of 4.02 billion baht but still within the 10% margin set by the BMTA.
The joint venture made a bid of 4.4 billion baht, a BMTA source said. The companies will import the buses from Jiangxi Kama Business Bus Co in China, he added.
The BMTA is mulling "delaying or revoking" the installation of cash boxes on 2,600 buses due to doubts about their functionality.