Bangladesh-India JV power company next month
M Azizur Rahman | Monday, 28 March 2011
M Azizur Rahman
Bangladesh and India will form the first-ever joint venture power company next month to build a 1,320 megawatts (mw) coal-fired plant at an estimated cost of US$1.7 billion near the Mongla seaport in Khulna, a top government official said Sunday. State-owned Power Development Board (PDB) will ink a deal with India's state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in April to construct the plant, he said. "We expect to establish the joint venture company by April and registrar it subsequently with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms," PDB Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir told the FE on the day. He said the joint venture company (JVC) will build the 1,320 mw coal-fired power plant to meet the country's mounting electricity demand. State-owned power companies of the two neighbouring countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in early last year to form the JVC. Both the sides have already accepted the terms and conditions of the proposed company. The PDB and the NTPC would have equal share in the JVC. In the proposed power plant the PDB and the NTPC together would invest sum equivalent to 25 per cent of its total cost, amounting to around $425 million, while the remaining 75 per cent of the cost would be mobilised from external sources as loans. Both the companies have agreed to constitute a JVC board with equal number of members from both the sides. Two key posts of the JVC - chairman and managing director - would be selected from the members of both sides alternately. Valuation of Bangladesh land would be calculated and be treated as equity in the joint venture project. The NTPC separately have almost completed a feasibility study on the proposed 1320 mw plant having two units with the electricity generation capacity of 660 mw each. The project would be completed by 2013. The country is now reeling under acute electricity crisis and desperately trying to augment its generation. The country's electricity generation is now hovering around 4,000 mw against the peak hour demand for over 6,000 mw. Years of under-investment have led to frequent outages of electricity that have been taking a heavy toll on industrial output. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank say the acute power shortfall has been a big drag on the country's bid to attain double-digit growth.
Bangladesh and India will form the first-ever joint venture power company next month to build a 1,320 megawatts (mw) coal-fired plant at an estimated cost of US$1.7 billion near the Mongla seaport in Khulna, a top government official said Sunday. State-owned Power Development Board (PDB) will ink a deal with India's state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in April to construct the plant, he said. "We expect to establish the joint venture company by April and registrar it subsequently with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms," PDB Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir told the FE on the day. He said the joint venture company (JVC) will build the 1,320 mw coal-fired power plant to meet the country's mounting electricity demand. State-owned power companies of the two neighbouring countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in early last year to form the JVC. Both the sides have already accepted the terms and conditions of the proposed company. The PDB and the NTPC would have equal share in the JVC. In the proposed power plant the PDB and the NTPC together would invest sum equivalent to 25 per cent of its total cost, amounting to around $425 million, while the remaining 75 per cent of the cost would be mobilised from external sources as loans. Both the companies have agreed to constitute a JVC board with equal number of members from both the sides. Two key posts of the JVC - chairman and managing director - would be selected from the members of both sides alternately. Valuation of Bangladesh land would be calculated and be treated as equity in the joint venture project. The NTPC separately have almost completed a feasibility study on the proposed 1320 mw plant having two units with the electricity generation capacity of 660 mw each. The project would be completed by 2013. The country is now reeling under acute electricity crisis and desperately trying to augment its generation. The country's electricity generation is now hovering around 4,000 mw against the peak hour demand for over 6,000 mw. Years of under-investment have led to frequent outages of electricity that have been taking a heavy toll on industrial output. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank say the acute power shortfall has been a big drag on the country's bid to attain double-digit growth.