BAGERHAT, Mar 22 (UNB): A 45-member delegation of foreign firms which are interested to bid for the tender of construction work of the Rampal coal-fired power plant visited the project site Sunday.
According to officials, the foreign companies are eager to bid for various construction works for the 1,320MW power plant.
It is a joint venture of Power Development Board (PDB) of Bangladesh and the National Thermal Power Company (NTPC) of India.
The power project will cost about Tk 140 billion (14,000 crore).
Out of the total cost 70 per cent will be sourced as loan from any international agency while 30 per cent to be shared by the governments of Bangladesh and India equally.
Project director Rabindra Nath Samaddar said that the delegates of foreign firms made the spot visit on Sunday as part of their preparation for bidding in the upcoming tender for the project.
Bagerhat chief government administrator M Jahangir Alam said 1,834 acres of land in the area has already been acquired and handed over to the project authorities to begin the installation of the power plant.
The interested firms will apply against the tender for the construction work after spot visiting, he added.
Expressing concern over the move, district's Krishi Jomi Rokkha Sangram Committee convener Sushanta Kumar Halder said the coal-based power plant will be detrimental to the environment of the adjacent Sundarbans.
He urged the government to immediately stop the construction of the power plant.
During a visit to the project area on Saturday, the newsmen saw some construction activities, including laying a fence of iron-net around the selected plant area, unloading of stones from cargoes on the elevated sand-filled zones and crushing of stones and bricks, were going on in full swing.
Talking to several construction workers, it was learnt that the construction of the boundary wall of the power plant has almost been completed and they will be employed in some other works afterwards.
Project site in-charge Md Shahanuzzaman Ferdous said the sand-filling that began in January, 2013 has been completed and currently they are laying a high iron-net fence around the boundary of the selected zone for constructing the plant as per the plan.
