India to provide $1.0b for building transmission grid

The government will build a transmission grid for electricity distribution from Rooppur nuclear power plant under a US$1.41 billion project, mostly financed from an Indian credit line.
Officials said Friday the highest amount of funds, nearly $1.0 billion, would be spent from the latest Indian Line of Credit (LoC) worth US$4.5 billion on this project.
They said the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) has already taken up the project for installing the transmission grid for evacuating electricity from the under-construction nuclear power plant.
"The $1.0 billion worth of funds from the total $4.5 billion Indian LoC-III will be the single highest investment in a project. Out of the proposed 17 projects under the LoC-III, the expenditure for the Rooppur power- evacuation scheme will be the highest," a senior Power Division official told the FE.
He said since the government with the financial and technical supports of the Russian government is constructing the 2X1200-megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant at Rooppur in Pabna, a high-voltage transmission line is required to be installed for evacuation and supply of the nuclear power.
The first 1200MW unit of the plant is expected to commence in October 2022 and another planned 1200MW unit by 2024.
In April 2017, India confirmed its $4.5 billion LoC-III for financing 17 development projects in Bangladesh.
Earlier, New Delhi had confirmed $862-million fund under its LoC-I and $2.0 billion under LoC-II for bankrolling Bangladesh's infrastructure development in 2010 and 2016 respectively.
According to the PGCB, it has planned to install the 400-kilovolt (kv) high-voltage double-circuit power grid under the proposed $1.41 billion (Tk 113.53 billion) project by December 2022.
"We have already sent the project proposal to the Planning Commission (PC) for getting approval. Shortly after the approval we will start the construction work," said a senior PGCB official.
He added: "We will lay 609-kilometre 400-kv high-voltage double-circuit power-transmission line from Rooppur to other areas of the country. Besides, we will install 60km 230kv double-circuit transmission line and upgrade 12 bays at different places across the country under the project."
When asked, a senior PC official told the FE that they were scrutinising the Tk113.53-billion-cost project of the PGCB in order to place it before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council for approval.
The PGCB will lay 154km 400kv double-circuit transmission line from Rooppur to Dhaka (Aminbazar), 51km line from Aminbazar to Kaliakor, 150km one from Rooppur to Gopalganj, 102km from Rooppur to Bogra, and 152km power-transmission grid from Rooppur to Dhamrai.
Besides, 60km-long 230kv transmission line from Rooppur-Baghabari will also be set up under the project.

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