Shanta Group to install power plant at Adamjee EPZ

FE Team | Published: July 29, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
Shanta Group, one of the fastest-growing local business conglomerates, will install a power plant with a capacity of 50 megawatt (MW) at Adamjee Export Processing Zone (EPZ).
The business group, with its core strength in the apparel sector, will invest around US$30 million for building the proposed power plant, a senior official of the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) said.
"We're expected to sign an agreement with Shanta Group within a day or two in this regard," the official told the FE.
"The company's investment plan reflects the BEPZA authority's continued efforts to attract local investors to invest in power generation at the country's economic zones. The proposed plant will ensure uninterrupted power supply to hundreds of industrial units there," he added.
The sources hinted that the plant would be commissioned in 15 months.
The investment of Shanta Group, which also owns the city's private Apollo Hospital, is expected to reduce the electricity supply shortfall in the newly-developed industrial park.
Diversified into apparel, chemicals, healthcare, education and real estate, the company's annual turnover reached $48 million in 2006, according to its website.
Insiders at Shanta say the company's foray into power business bears "real significance" in terms of not only its diversification, but also its strategic choice.
The country is currently facing a severe power supply shortage as the demand for electricity far outstripped that of supply, requiring power austerity measures.
Although power crisis deepened in the last five years, the immediate past government did nothing to add the required electricity to the national grid.
The national electricity demand has been growing at 7.0 per cent a year over the past 10 years.
According to a World Bank estimate, an additional 12,845 MW capacity will be needed by 2020 to narrow down the gap between supply and demand.
The BEPZA officials acknowledged that the industrial units located in the country's industrial parks, particularly at Adamjee, had been complaining about the erratic power supply and frequent outages there for the last one year or so.
"If commissioned, Shanta's power plant will not only improve the electricity supply, but also help restore the confidence of foreign investors at the EPZs," a BEPZA source noted.
Earlier, another local business firm-United Group-struck a deal with the BEPZA to set up a 40 MW power plant at the Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) at a cost of $32 million to meet the growing demand for electricity there.
The plant is supposed to provide uninterrupted power supply to some 185 factories operating in the CEPZ, and its capacity will gradually be raised to 50-MW.
The plant is likely to be commissioned in 15 months, the BEPZA sources told the FE.
The United Group will also set up another 40 MW plant in Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ), the sources added.